Biography
Recognized as France’s pioneering major jazz trumpeter, Philippe Brun stood among the world’s leading trumpeters by the late 1930s. Although he first trained on violin, he developed his trumpet technique almost entirely without formal instruction. Recording activity began for him in 1929, and throughout the following decade he appeared with Gregor, Danny Polo, Ray Ventura’s Collegians, Jack Hylton in London, Bert Ambrose, Django Reinhardt, and Alix Combelle, among others. From 1941 to 1944 he reached neutral Switzerland, where he performed alongside Andre Ekyan, Teddy Stauffer, and Eddie Brunner. In the postwar period Brun most often directed his own groups, yet—with the sole exception of three titles issued under another name in 1954—every session released under his leadership on the Pathe, Swing, and Elite Special labels dates from 1937–44. Philippe Brun never played in the United States.