To many fans of traditional and mainstream jazz, Campbell Burnap was the swinging, dependable trombonist in several of Britain’s highest profile bands, particularly those of Alan Elsdon, with whom he played in 1970-75, and Acker Bilk, 1980-87. He was also heard in the groups led by Monty Sunshine and Terry Lightfoot, as well as playing for Chris Barber’s trumpeter Pat Halcox in the latter’s “Summer Band” which convened for a few weeks every year in the 1980s while Barber took a holiday.

However, Burnap’s place in British jazz was latterly not so much as an instrumentalist and singer, but as one of a handful of knowledgeable, personable and wideranging broadcasters, to be numbered alongside such masters of the microphone as Peter Clayton, Charles Fox and Humphrey Lyttelton.

He began broadcasting as a temporary replacement for Lyttelton on BBC Radio 2, at a time when the network demanded that its main presenters took a few weeks off every year. His warm, avuncular voice, with the hint of an amused smile, and an accent that reflected both his Scottish roots and long periods in the Antipodes, was one of the most familiar and reassuring on radio. He possessed the rare knack of making every listener feel like a personal friend, something he discovered somewhat to his own surprise as hordes of listeners came up to talk to him at gigs.

He went on to make several charming documentaries for the same network, notably multipart series on Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke and — above all — his trombone-playing idol Jack Teagarden.

In the 1990s, he was also a regular deputy for the presenters of the Radio 3 magazine show Jazz Notes, replacing Digby Fairweather and Alyn Shipton for weeks at a time, but also joining them for regular reviews of current CDs, in which, despite his typecasting as a traditionalist, he displayed wide-ranging and often surprising tastes.

He was one of the first presenters on Jazz FM, and managed to continue his Sunday night Mainstem show through all the changes of policy and style on the station for 17 years from its launch in 1989, keeping it a small oasis of high-quality jazz programming, even at the height of the “smooth” era which Burnap personally regarded as anathema. He gratefully seized the chance to transfer to the digital station TheJazz in 2007, and presented a similarly tasteful show until the network was closed this year.

Born in Derby, Burnap spent his early childhood in Scotland, confirming several of his sporting loyalties. However, his return to Derbyshire at the age of 7 inspired his lifelong support of that county’s cricket team, and his passion for the game became every bit as strong as his love of jazz. At one point he was the voice of BT’s dial-up service for ball-by-ball commentaries on Test and county championship matches. His two loves came together each summer when he provided a Dixieland band to play for members’ lunches during the Lord’s test.

Having played washboard in a school group, Burnap took up the trombone in earnest when he emigrated to New Zealand in 1959 at the age of 20. He was soon playing in the Wellington-based band of Derek Green, and subsequently moved to Sydney, where he stayed, working with such local leaders as Geoff Bull until 1965.

At this point he came back to Britain, and began his association with the top flight of UK traditional bands. He was also a founder member of the Ellingtonian big band the Midnight Follies Orchestra, and of the all-trombone group Five-A-Slide. Something of a Renaissance man, Burnap also acted bit parts in films and on television, and trained as a teacher, but his main activity was playing the trombone. After leaving Bilk in 1987, he principally led his own groups, although he often played the “Legends of British Jazz” shows led by the drummer John Petters.

Latterly Burnap enjoyed putting together themed concerts, including a semi-dramatised Teagarden portrait, which he presented at the Purcell Room and at the Sage, Gateshead, and most recently a celebration of the centenaries of both Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges during the 2007 London Jazz Festival.

He was also an extremely generous man. Jazz friends and acquaintances would often receive surprise packages from him with books or CDs that he had spotted with their enthusiasms in mind. He tirelessly raised funds for the National Jazz Archive in Loughton, Essex, giving his time and energy not only to lead bands at benefit functions but to present interviews at the archive with famous musicians.

He was playing regularly this year until the onset of pancreatic cancer. Burnap is survived by his wife, Jenny.

Campbell Burnap, jazz bandleader, trombonist and broadcaster, was born on September 10, 1939. He died on May 29, 2008, aged 68