John Shillito

British trumpeter and cornetist John Shillito, whose career spanned more than seven decades, died on November 6, 2025, aged 87. A committed exponent of classic New Orleans, British trad, and later Gypsy swing, he continued leading bands and performing regularly into his eighties.

Born in Sheffield in 1938, Shillito discovered jazz as a schoolboy in the 1950s, first playing a borrowed cornet and learning the music from records owned by older relatives. Those early encounters proved decisive. Shillito remained devoted to early jazz vocabulary, melodic lead playing, and ensemble balance throughout his life.

After relocating to London, he formed John Shillito’s Select Six, a band he would lead, under that name and variants, for more than fifty years. The Select Six became his primary outlet, focusing on classic New Orleans material, early swing, and, in later years, Gypsy swing. His trumpet style was warm and direct, designed to lead a band cleanly rather than to spotlight virtuosity for its own sake.

During the 1960s he toured widely across the UK and Europe, working the traditional jazz circuit as it transitioned from its postwar boom into a more specialist but committed scene. In 1971 he joined John Bastable’s Chosen Six and made his recording debut on the group’s Second Album (1972), bringing him wider recognition among British trad jazz listeners.

Shillito also worked with a broad range of figures on the UK traditional scene, including Barbara Widmer, Roger Marks, Paul Munnery, and Ken Colyer, and appeared with regional bands such as the Tuxedo Jazz Band and the Cornish Armada Jazz Band. Later he settled in South Devon, where he became a central presence in the Teignmouth and Torbay jazz community, leading groups including John Shillito’s Riviera Ramblers. Shillito was still performing with conviction well into the 2010s and 2020s. He is remembered as a stalwart of British traditional jazz whose career connected the revival era of the 1950s directly to the present day.