John Chilton

John James Chilton (born 16 July 1932 in London, England) is a British jazz trumpeter and writer. During the 1960s he also worked with pop bands, including The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Escorts.

He was born in London to working-class parents (his father was a musical hall comedian) and was evacuated to Northamptonshire, where he began playing the cornet at the age of 12. He switched to trumpet at 17 and after doing national service in the RAF (1950–1952) he formed his own jazz band, playing at Butlins in Skegness with a troupe that included comedian Dave Allen.

He worked in Bruce Turner's Jump Band from 1958-1963. A movie of their exploits called Living Jazz was made in 1961 by director Jack Gold. Chilton later appeared in Alex Welsh's Big Band. He played piano on some pop recordings in the 1960s while also working for Mike Daniels' Big Band. In the late 1960s he formed his own Swing Kings band which backed some leading American jazzmen who toured Britain, including Buck Clayton, Ben Webster, Bill Coleman and Charlie Shavers. He also recorded The Song of a Road, one of the radio ballads of folk singers Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in the 1950s for the BBC.