John James Chilton (16 July 1932 – 25 February 2016) was a British jazz trumpeter and writer. During the 1960s, he also worked with pop bands, including

The Swinging Blue Jeans The Swinging Blue Jeans are a four-piece 1960s British Merseybeat band, best known for their hit singles with the His Master's Voice label: " Hippy Hippy Shake", " Good Golly Miss Molly", and " You're No Good", issued in 1964. Subsequent sin ...

and The Escorts. He won a

Grammy Award for Best Album Notes The Grammy Award – Best Album Notes has been presented since 1964. From 1973 to 1976 (the 15th through 18th Awards), a second award was presented for Best Album Notes – Classical. Those awards are listed under those years below. The award reco ...

in 1983.

Biography

Chilton was born in London on 16 July 1932, to working-class parents (his father was a musical hall comedian) and was evacuated to

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, where he began playing the

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

at the age of 12. He switched to

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

at 17 and after doing

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the RAF (1950–1952) he formed his own jazz band, playing at

Butlins Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, incorporated as Butlins Skyline Limited. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1 ...

. He worked in

Bruce Turner Malcom Bruce Turner (5 July 1922 – 28 November 1993) was an English jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. Biography Born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England, and educated at Dulwich College, he learned to play the clarine ...

's Jump Band from 1958 to 1963. A film of their exploits called ''Living Jazz'' (1961) was made by director

Jack Gold Jacob M. Gold (28 June 1930 – 9 August 2015) was a British film and television director. He was part of the British realist tradition which followed the Free Cinema movement. Career Jacob M. Gold was born on 28 June 1930, in North Lond ...

. Chilton later appeared in

Alex Welsh Alex Welsh (9 July 1929 – 25 June 1982) was a Scottish jazz musician who played cornet and trumpet and was also a bandleader and singer, Biography Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh started playing in the teenage Leith Silver Band and wi ...

's Big Band. He later worked with

Wally Fawkes Walter Ernest Fawkes (; 21 June 1924 – 1 March 2023), also known as Trog when signing cartoons, was a Canadian-British jazz clarinettist and satirical cartoonist. After emigrating with his family to Britain from Canada when he was 7 years ...

, also known as the cartoonist "Trog", and in January 1974 formed John Chilton's Feetwarmers, who began accompanying British jazz singer and writer

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973, he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

. Together they made records and toured the world for nearly 30 years. Chilton won a

on ''Bunny Berigan'' (1983) and was nominated in the same category in 2000 for ''The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve''. As an author and researcher, Chilton published his ''Who's Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street'' in 1970, and there were five updated editions until 1989. He followed this with ''Who's Who of British Jazz'' in 1997. He completed biographies of Billie Holiday, Sidney Bechet, Louis Jordan and Coleman Hawkins. He won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

award for his writing on jazz, and in 2000 he won the British Jazz Award for Writer of the Year.

Bibliography

*''Louis: The Louis Armstrong Story'' (with Max Jones) (1971), ; (1988), *''Ride Red Ride – the Life of Henry 'Red' Allen'' (2000), *''Roy Eldridge, Little Jazz Giant'' (2002), *''McKinney's Music – A Bio-discography of McKinney's Cotton Pickers'' (1978), *''A Jazz Nursery – The Story of Jenkins' Orphanage Band'' (1980), *''Teach Yourself Jazz'' (1979), *''Stomp Off, Let's Go: The Story of Bob Crosby's Bob Cats and Big Band'' (1983), *''Who's Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street'' (1970, 1972, 1978, 1985, 1989)

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...

see: *''Let the Good Times Roll: The Story of Louis Jordan and his Music'' (1997), *''Billie's Blues – A Survey of Billie Holiday's Career'' (1975), *''The Song of the Hawk – The Life and Recordings of Coleman Hawkins'' (1990), *''Sidney Bechet – the Wizard of Jazz'' (1988), *''Who's Who of British Jazz'' (1997), ; (2004),

Autobiography

Discography

*''Nuts'' (1972) *''Son of Nuts'' (1973) *''It's George'' (1974) *''Making Whoopee'' (1982) *''Best of Live'' (1995) *''Anything Goes'' (1996) *''Goodtime George'' *''The Ultimate Melly'', including guest

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

(2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, John 1932 births 2016 deaths Musicians from London English jazz trumpeters British male trumpeters Grammy Award winners British male jazz musicians