Philip Jones CBE was a British trumpeter and leader of an internationally famous brass chamber music ensemble.
Philip Jones was born in Bath, England. In 1944 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He became principal trumpet for most major London orchestras: The Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the Philharmonic, the New Philharmonia and the BBC Symphony. His playing continues a line of English trumpeters that stretches back to Ernest Hall.
In 1951 he had formed the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, one of the first brass ensembles working regularly as a stable group. They grew from four members to ten and larger for special projects. The most usual formations were the quintet and the ten-piece. The success of these formations owes much to Philip Jones's work.
After 1971 he devoted himself to it full-time and the group commanded long commitment from many fine players including: the trumpeters Elgar Howarth, John Wilbraham, Michael Laird and James Watson; horn players Ifor James and Frank Lloyd; trombonists John Iveson and Raymond Premru; and the renowned tubist John Fletcher. They made 50 recordings and toured over 30 countries finding particular popularity in Japan.