John Chilton died this morning. He will be so sadly missed. For so many years a bandleader, trumpet player and the author of so many invaluable jazz biographies. His 1997 Who's Who of British Jazz is one of my most referred to sources of reference and I had a secret wish that one day he'd update it. Sadly that day is gone. Still, I do have the book, signed by both John and his erstwhile contemporary George Melly,
He was a prolific author and an equally prolific mainstream trumpet player who stood, head held high, alongside Humph and Digby in that genre.
But it is with Melly where I think his musical legacy has been cemented. Together they were joined at the hip musically even more so than Melly and Mick Mulligan were in the former's younger days. The photo is one I took at a Melly concert in the late '70s/early'80s.
John Chilton was 83.
May he rest in peace in the knowledge that he will be sadly missed by the jazz fraternity.
Lance
Thanks for that, lovely words which Dad would have appreciated. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIt was with great sadness that I learnt of Johns passing yesterday .
DeleteJohn and I enjoyed many decades of companionship and I will
always count it as one of life's great privileges .
From our first meeting at the Newcastle City Hall in January 1974 till our last phone
chat a year or two back he was always most gracious and interested in my own " doings "
and spent countless hours during Tyneside visits passing on his considerable knowledge
about performance, programming set lists and the like which has provided a deep well for
myself to draw on over the years in my own work.
Generous to a fault the only thing I can ever remember any slight disagreement about was his insistence that I started to accept being put on the guest list for gigs!
( I of course gave in following John and George saying they where " embarrassed " by me being a paying customer ) Great stuff.
We where always going to try and get to a Football match together ( to see my beloved Gateshead FC but sadly timings and soundchecks always got in the way ) .
It was always an honour to be given his Horns to look after while he signed autographs for the well-wishers after gigs.
.
I will forever have so many fond memories John and his Tyneside visits .
A great writer as you said, Lance. His biography of Coleman Hawkins is state of the art - required reading for any jazz fan, and particularly tenor players. Sad news.
ReplyDelete