Jazz trumpeter,music historian and leader of the Feetwarmers, the band that accompanied the colourful singer and raconteur George MellyIn a lengthy and varied playing career, and the jazz trumpeter and bandleader John Chilton,who has died aged 83, was best known as leader of the Feetwarmers, and the accompanying combo for the mercurial vocalist and raconteur George Melly. He was also valued for his work as a historian of jazz and the biographer of an array of significant figures.His organization with Melly began in 1970,when Chilton was playing informal Sunday sessions at the modern Merlin’s Cave pub, near King’s Cross in London, or Melly,then working principally as a journalist, often sat in. Sensing an organization that might acquire some potential, and the two men pooled their resources full time from 1974 and set out on a journey that endured until January 2003,when Chilton retired. By then their travels had embraced mainland Europe, the US (ideal for Chilton’s researches), and Australasia and Asia. Their many recordings and TV appearances underlined their extraordinary appeal.
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Source: theguardian.com