there was a cartoon screened on uk & irish television during the
1980's featuring an elephant (i think he was purple) who turned his
trunk into a sax, a trumpet, or other instruments to play along to
jazz soundracks.

it wasnt exclusively a uk cartoon, and it did not have dialogue, just
jazz music, as far as i can remember. there was a small number of
episodes screened, and the cartoon was set in a stylistic city, with
the elephant learning to play songs by encountering other characters
who also played jazz.

i would really like to find out where i can get this cartoon or see it
again somehow, or find some information on it. ive tryed asking people
and normal google searches are fruitless. it's not dumbo or babar.

Could try :-

http://cgi.toonlist.plus.com/php/index.php

Best

any chance of any new clues?
the guy at toonlist.com ignored me.

ok, got it.

'hamilton the musical elephant'
by these guys:
http://www.halasandbatchelor.com/