SJohn Dankworth plays his saxophone at Buckingham Palace, London, in March 2006 after receiving a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. (Andrew Parsons/AP/ Pool)

Saxophonist John Dankworth, a leading figure in British jazz who played with the likes of Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald, has died at 82.

His wife, jazz singer Cleo Laine, announced her husband's death near the end of a 40th anniversary concert at The Stables, a music venue north of London that they founded together.

The musician, who also composed for film and television, passed away on Saturday at a London hospital after a few months battling an undisclosed illness.

Dankworth was once hailed by Jazzwise magazine as "one of the totemic figures of British jazz" and as the United Kingdom's "first major jazz musician."

Monica Ferguson, The Stables chief executive officer, said Sunday that Laine went on with Saturday night's concert because she believed her husband would have wanted that.

Laine talked to the musicians before concert, saying "'I'll go on and I'll have a lump in my throat and I might crack.' But she didn't crack," Ferguson said, adding that the audience was visibly moved by the announcement.

"There were a lot of gasps and people I spoke to afterwards were visibly shaken and moved by it," she told BBC News.

Young British singer Jamie Cullum credited Dankworth with influencing generations of British performers.

"A great man and one of our finest musicians and composers has died. Rest in peace, Sir," posted Cullum on his Twitter page.

Fell ill during U.S. tour

Dankworth fell ill last October while at the end of a U.S. tour with his wife. They cancelled the rest of their concert dates for the year. His illness was never divulged.

His last professional appearance came last November during the London Jazz Festival where he played his saxophone from his wheelchair at the Royal Festival Hall.

Born in Woodford, Essex in 1927 to a family of musicians, Dankworth first picked up the clarinet, bought by his mother.

"I loved music, but I didn't want to be taught music, or learn anything, until my parents gave me up for lost, really, and that was when I was about 15," he told the BBC. "Then I eventually just heard some jazz."

Eventually Dankworth made the leap to the saxophone after hearing Charlie Parker play.

At age 17, he won a spot at the Royal Academy of Music and after serving briefly for the British Army during the Second World War he resumed his music career, garnering British Musician of the Year in 1949.

Founded two charities

Besides playing with the likes of Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington, who became a close friend, Dankworth was a successful composer.

He created scores for films such as Modesty Blaise, Darling and and The Servant and TV series including the original theme for The Avengers.

Laine and Dankworth married in 1958 after she auditioned for his band.

In 1969, the pair founded The Wavendon Allmusic Plan, a musical education charity and opened a theatre in the old stable block on their property in Wavendon, Buckinghamshire, about 80 kilometres north of London.

The Stables holds about 350 concerts a year and hosts youth music camps as well.

In 1999, the couple created a second charity, the Wavendon Foundation, to help young artists and organizations needing financial help.

Laine was made a dame in 1997. Dankworth was knighted in 2006 by the Queen for services to music.

The couple had a son and daughter, both of whom are jazz musicians.

With files from The Associated Press