Campbell Burnap: Jazz trombonist and broadcaster

In terms of mileage, Campbell Burnap was the greatest of the jazz adventurers, constantly criss-crossing the world to play his trombone, sing and talk about the music. He was as big in Finland as he was in Australia. Amongst many unusual jobs he took on during his career, he worked as a ball-by-ball cricket commentator for British Telecom's "Cricketcall" during the 1990 County Championship and he became a regular broadcaster on jazz for various networks. He had such a delightful personality that his nickname was "Mr Charm".

An often-itinerant musician such as he needed instantly to adapt his playing to fit in with the variety of bands that he encountered in his travels. His great love was for the music of the trombonist Jack Teagarden, and he modelled his style on that of the great American. But he was versatile and could also sound convincing in mainstream and the basic New Orleans idioms.

He was born in Derby in 1939 with an already unusual surname; his Scottish parents thought what the hell and he was christened Campbell Crichton Mackinnon Burnap. An early interest in jazz led him to play washboard in the band led by a schoolfriend, the clarinettist Chris Blount.

When he was 19 Campbell Burnap emigrated on his own to New Zealand, and it was in Wellington that he took up the trombone. He worked as a civil servant for three years before moving on to Australia, where he stayed for another three years, playing with various bands in Sydney and Melbourne.

In 1965 he travelled to the United States where, for $99, he bought a Greyhound bus pass and with it was able to travel around the States, Mexico and Canada. He took the opportunity to drop off in New Orleans and spent six weeks there playing with the veteran musicians at Preservation Hall. He then returned to England where, in the autumn of 1965, he joined the band led by Terry Lightfoot and, after six months with Lightfoot, joined Monty Sunshine before returning to Australia in 1966. He worked again with various bands there, but returned to settle for a time in London in 1969, where he played in the pianist Ian Armit's band.

In 1970 he joined the trumpeter Alan Elsdon and stayed until 1975, also studying and gaining a teacher's certificate. His good looks helped him to jobs as an extra in film and television, and from 1976 he commuted for four years to play regularly in a bar in Zurich. He joined the Midnite Follies Orchestra in London from January until June 1978 and then worked in Pat Halcox's All Stars, and for Pete Allen and then Keith Smith.

Burnap really came to prominence when in 1980 he joined Acker Bilk's band where he stayed until 1987. In his spare time he played for Alex Welsh and the trombone band Five-a-Slide.

By 1988 he had become well known for his regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 2 where he created a series of hour-long biographies of jazz musicians, including Bix Beiderbecke, Harry James, Louis Armstrong, Eddie Lang and of course Jack Teagarden, that were notable for his thorough research work. He was also a regular on Radio 2's Jazz Score along with Humphrey Lyttelton and Bilk. By now he was making a name in Finland where he was to appear annually until his death at the Kaamos Jazz Festival.

Always a keen cricketer, he was a member both of the MCC and of Derbyshire County Cricket Club. He had for 20 years been a member of the Ravers, a cricket team originally made up mainly of jazz musicians, almost from its inception. In later years he played in the Outswingers, a jazz band that played each season on the Harris Green at Lord's during the lunch and tea intervals.

Burnap's radio career expanded when he presented the BBC World Service's Jazz for the Asking and was given his own weekly three-hour programme on Jazz FM, later Smooth Radio. Until recently he was the main attraction on the ill-fated The Jazz radio station.

Steve Voce

Campbell Crichton Mackinnon Burnap, trombonist, vocalist, bandleader and broadcaster: born Derby 10 September 1939; married 2002 Jenny Hargreaves; died London 30 May 2008.