The Jazz Couriers - Some Of My Best Friends Are Blues

Styles: Straight-ahead/Mainstream
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:34
Size: 183,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:34)  1. Through The Night Roared The Overland Express
(5:24)  2. Royal Ascot
(5:05)  3. On A Misty Night
(4:17)  4. Cheek To Cheek
(4:45)  5. Oh My
(5:24)  6. Plebus
(4:56)  7. Reunion
(7:20)  8. A Foggy Day
(5:52)  9. What Is This Thing Called Love
(5:20) 10. Some Of My Best Friends Are Blues
(5:52) 11. The Serpent
(8:36) 12. Guys And Dolls
(2:54) 13. Time Was
(3:22) 14. Speak Low
(3:46) 15. Cheek To Cheek

Although the Jazz Couriers are widely held to be the finest and most influential of British bebop/hard-bop bands, little recorded material by the group has been available in recent years. Add to this the paucity of available solo releases by the two men who led the Couriers, tenor saxophonist and vibraphonist Tubby Hayes and fellow tenor player Ronnie Scott, and you have two good reasons why this reissue from Ember Records, which pairs the band's debut studio session from August 1957 with a live recording from February 1958, is so welcomeIt's no secret that Hayes and Scott modelled their band on Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and this is in evidence in the opening number, “Through the Night Roared the Overland Express”. A Hayes composition, it features some effective, Latin-tinged drumming from Bill Eydon that recalls Blakey's work on “Nica's Dream”, from the 1956 <|>The Jazz Messengerssides on Columbia.

Trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar augments the band on the track, and also guests on “Royal Ascot”, in which composer Hayes switches from tenor to vibes. The unusual tenor/vibes/trumpet front line in this buoyant cut is a welcome step away from the two-horns-and-a-rhythm-section sound of the 1950s Messengers. Hayes' vibes are particularly suited to Tad Dameron's wistful “On A Misty Night”, which he furnishes with a shimmering solo. Of the live tracks, “Some of My Best Friends Are Blues” is an instantly memorable 12-bar blues by Scott, who contributes a couple of frenzied solo choruses. Pianist Terry Shannon raises his game in response and his solo is fluid, intelligent and soulful. “The Serpent” crawls on its belly, its Latin rhythms helping it insinuate itself in the mind after just one listen. The album closes with Hayes' witty, blaring arrangement of Irving Berlin's “Cheek to Cheek”, in which the whole outfit breathes fire. No mere Messengers clones, the Couriers took Blakey’s hard-bop template and stamped their own identity on it, aided by Hayes’ fresh compositions and arrangements and the judicious use of Tubby’s vibes. Today, Hayes is credited with a crucial role in establishing British modern jazz as a credible force. Although similarly fêted, Scott is known more as a club owner and jazz proselytizer than as a superb player and composer of talent. I hope this fine reissue redresses the balance.By Ronan Abayawickrema
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/some-of-my-best-friends-jazz-couriers-ember-records-review-by-ronan-abayawickrema.php#.VGdi5MmHmtg

Personnel: Ronnie Scott - Tenor Sax, Tubby Hayes - Tenor Sax, Vibes (2,3,7,10,12), Jimmy Deuchar – Trumpet (1,2), Terry Shannon - Piano, Phil Bates - Bass, Bill Eydon - Drums

Some Of My Best Friends Are Blues

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Tubby Hayes Quartet - The Complete Hopbine '69

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 107:02
Size: 245,7 MB
Art: Front

(10:24) 1. For Members Only
(15:30) 2. Off The Wagon
(19:03) 3. Where Am I Going?
(14:09) 4. What Is This Thing Called Love
(11:35) 5. Mainly For The Don
(13:24) 6. For Heaven's Sake
(18:03) 7. Vierd Blues
( 4:51) 8. Walkin'

Of all the many talented jazz musicians who blazed trails in Britain in the late 1950s and 1960s, tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes in 2022 stands among the tallest. Hayes, too, is one of a handful of British musicians of his generation who have been practically deified by some of the emergent young players who are currently invigorating the British scene.

Hayes died tragically young, aged thirty-eight, in 1973, from heart disease exacerbated by heroin use. So his discography, though a decent size, is not massive. Previously unknown recordings continue to be unearthed, however, and The Complete Hopbine '69 is the latest. It is not, strictly speaking, unknown: much of the material has already surfaced, spread over around half a dozen different albums. But this is the first time all of it recorded at a December 1969 one-nighter at the Hopbine jazz club, in actuality the back room of a pub in northwest London has been collected and presented complete and in the order in which it was performed that night by the Tubby Hayes Quartet.

It is also the first time the material has been made available in such pristine audio the sound is really, really great; it could have been recorded in a London studio last week rather than on a Revox reel-to-reel by the Hopbine's soundman some five decades ago. The first-generation tape was found in late 2020 among the possessions of the Hayes Quartet's bassist, Ron Mathewson, who had passed earlier in the year, shortly after giving the Jazz In Britain label's director, John Thurlow, permission to digitize his tape archive. Thurlow worked with drummer Spike Wells, the only surviving member of the Quartet, and technician Matt Parker to make the transfer. And a remarkable job they have done.

There is more good news. Hayes and the rest of the quartet (the fourth member was pianist Mick Pyne) are on fire throughout the performance, which is spread over two CDs. In December 1969, Hayes was on the cusp of being forced by ill-health to moderate (on occasion) his energy levels. No hint of that here though. Instead, what The Complete Hopbine '69 documents is late mid-period Hayes, when the technical virtuosity which delivered bucketloads of excitement, but at times overwhelmed the musical depth of his early period work, had been leavened by maturity.

Sure, speed of light tempos are still present on tunes such as Hayes' "For Members Only" and Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love," but they are balanced by the sumptuous balladeering of Elise Bretton's "For Heaven's Sake" and the comic overtones of Hayes' "Off The Wagon," which has a playful vibe similar to Sonny Rollins' contemporaneous calypso outings (Hayes described it as "our country and western, rock and roll, avant-garde, rhythm and blues, bebop tune"). Add in "Vierd Blues," Richard Carpenter's "Walkin'" and Cy Coleman's showtune "Where Am I Going," every one of them played by a world-class band at the peak of its powers, and you have close on two hours of timeless, thrilling jazz.By Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-complete-hopbine-69-tubby-hayes-quartet-jazz-in-britain

Personnel: Tubby Hayes: saxophone, tenor; Mick Pyne: piano; Ron Mathewson: bass, acoustic; Spike Wells: drums.

The Complete Hopbine '69

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Tubby Hayes - No Blues – The Complete Hopbine ‘65

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 95:41
Size: 219,5 MB
Art: Front

(17:42) 1. Night And Day
( 9:22) 2. It Never Entered My Mind
( 9:19) 3. I Remember You
(15:15) 4. On Green Dolphin Street
(19:39) 5. No Blues
( 5:15) 6. What's New?
(19:08) 7. Have You Met Miss Jones?

"Who the fuck are you?" said Tubby Hayes, encountering Ron Mathewson on the bandstand of London's Hopbine club an hour or so before the start of the gig which this album chronicles. "I'm the bassist," said just turned twenty-one year old Mathewson, who had been booked to deputise for the Hopbine's regular bassist that night.

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we?" said Hayes.

So began a relationship in which Mathewson later became a permament member of Hayes' quartet and the bassist in all of his bands, large and small, up until Hayes passed in 1973.

The full story is told in an interview Mathewson gave, not long before he passed in 2020, to Hayes historian Simon Spillett, the author of the 24-page liner booklet accompanying the 2-CD live album No Blues: The Complete Hopbine '65. It is Mathewson's tape archive which we have to thank for this, the first complete recording of the gig, which has previously been released in bits and always with poor audio. Not only is the Jazz In Britain release the first complete recording, it is the only one on which sound restoration has raised the audio to a quality befitting the music.

And the music is superb. Many people consider Hayes to have been at his peak circa 1965, when, as Spillett observes, one hears the inspiration of Hayes' hero John Coltrane mixed in with Hayes' gift for Stan Getz-like balladry. In 1965, too, Hayes was still in good physical shape, before the effects of longterm heroin use kicked in. When he concludes his 44-chorus solo on Miles Davis' "No Blues" there is every suggestion that he could have maintained the energy level for another 44 choruses. There are similarly ecstatic performances of Cole Porter's "Night And Day" and Bronislaw Kaper's "On Green Dolphin Street," on which Hayes' is joined by fellow tenor saxophonist Tommy Whittle, organiser of the one-night-a-week jazz club in the back room of the Hopbine pub. There is balladry as well, with a gutsy exploration of Richard Rodgers' "It Never Entered My Mind."

Once again, John Thurlow and his dedicated team at not-for-profit Jazz In Britain are to be thanked for bringing a chunk of immortal magic back into the public domain.
By Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/no-blues-the-complete-hopbine-65-tubby-hayes-jazz-in-britain

Personnel: Tubby Hayes: saxophone, tenor; Kenny Powell: piano; Ron Mathewson: bass, acoustic; Dick Brennan: drums.

No Blues – The Complete Hopbine‘65

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The Tubby Hayes - The Orchestra (Remastered 2019)

Styles: Saxophone And Flute Jazz
Year: 1970/2019
Time: 33:19
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 76,6 MB
Art: Front

(1:53) 1. Up, Up And Away
(2:56) 2. The Other Man’s Grass Is Always Greener
(2:53) 3. Emily
(2:22) 4. These Boots Are Made For Walking
(2:17) 5. Free Again
(2:52) 6. Here, There And Everywhere
(4:03) 7. Song For A Sad Lady
(2:25) 8. Mas Que Nada
(2:32) 9. The Gentle Rain
(3:32) 10. Hey Jude
(2:15) 11. The Windows Of The World
(3:14) 12. This Guy’s In Love With You

Hayes, Tubby (Edward Brian), tenor saxophone, flute, vibes, arranger (b. London, January 30, 1935, d. June 8, 1973, London). Perhaps Britain’s most beloved jazz musician, Tubby Hayes was a prodigy who seemed to master nearly every musical task he attempted. Already a technical marvel on the saxophone when he first appeared on the London jazz scene at age 16, Tubby worked with several big bands before starting his own band in the mid-1950s. Before long, he was writing many of the arrangements for the group.

From 1957 to 1959 he joined Ronnie Scott in co-leading a quintet, The Jazz Couriers, perhaps the most fondly remembered of British Modern Jazz groups. Subsequently, Hayes reformed his quartet, and toured Germany with Kurt Edelhagen. Then in 1961 he was invited to play at the Half Note Club in New York City; a new transatlantic Musicians’ Union agreement meant that, in exchange, Zoot Sims played at Ronnie Scott’s. While in America, Hayes recorded (Tubbs in NY) with Clark Terry, Eddie Costa, and Horace Parlan, and in 1962 he returned for another visit, this time recording Return Visit with James Moody, Roland Kirk, Walter Bishop Jr, Sam Jones, and Louis Hayes. He played at the Half Note again in 1964, and at the Boston Jazz Workshop the same year, and at Shelly Manne’s Manne-Hole in Los Angeles in 1965.

Back in London, Hayes formed his own big band, working in television, film, and radio, and even having his own television series (1961–1962, and 1963). He stood in for Paul Gonsalves in February 1964 (with whom he also recorded twice in 1965 (Just Friends and Change of Setting)) when the Ellington orchestra played at the Royal Festival Hall.

As well as leading his own bands and recording under his own name, Hayes also appears on recordings by other UK jazz musicians, such as the Harry South Big Band, the Ian Hamer Sextet and later studio sessions by Ted Heath’s Orchestra. Hayes was also a prolific session musician in many genres. Among his many credits, Hayes led the brass section on the sessions for Music in a Doll’s House, the acclaimed 1967 debut album by rock band Family, on which the young Mike Batt arranged the strings and brass. Batt credits Hayes with saving his brass arrangement on the track “Old Songs for New Songs”, which was his first major recording session as an arranger on the first take, he discovered he had inadvertently notated the parts in the wrong key but Hayes and his colleagues, realizing his mistake, discreetly transposed their parts by ear so that they would match the backing track.

Hayes appeared in a number of films, including All Night Long (1961) with Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck, and (with his group) in A King in New York, by Charles Chaplin (1957), The Beauty Jungle (1964) and Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965). He also played at a wide range of jazz festivals, including Reading, Windsor, Antibes, Lugano, Vienna, and Berlin.

Despite all this, regular gigs were hard to come by for jazz musicians, and especially for his big band; first rock and roll and then the Beatles had pushed most jazz out of Britain by the late 1960s. Matters were made worse for Hayes by his drug addiction, which badly affected his health. In the late 1960s, he underwent open-heart surgery; he was able to start performing again in 1971 , and in 1972 toured Norway and Sweden. In 1973, he died during another heart operation at Hammersmith, at the age of thirty-eight. He was cremated and the ashes interred at the Golders Green Crematorium, where there is a white stone memorial plaque affixed to one of the walls. The epitaph reads “Long live his memory and his music”
http://tubbyhayes.jazzgiants.net/biography/

Personnel: Tubby Hayes : Tenor Sax Flute ; Derek Watkins, Greg Bowen, Tony Fisher, Ian Hamer : Trumpet ; Keith Christie, David Horler, Bill Geldard : Trombone ; Roy Willox : Alto sax; Bob Efford : Tenor , Woodwinds ; Alan Branscombe : Piano , Vibes Percussion ; Louis Stewart : Guitar ; Ron Mathewson : Bass ; Spike Wells : Drums ; Plus Harp, 8 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos

The Orchestra (Remastered 2019)

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Dizzy Reece - Blues In Trinity (Remastered)

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:33
Size: 109,3 MB
Art: Front

( 6:47)  1. Blues In Trinity
( 3:04)  2. I Had The Craziest Dream
(10:39)  3. Close Up
( 6:37)  4. Shepherd's Serenade
( 6:02)  5. Color Blind
( 4:46)  6. 'Round About Midnight
( 4:03)  7. Eboo
( 5:31)  8. Just A Penny

One of the few American releases cut by the legendary British trumpeter Dizzy Reece and a great one! The album was strange for Blue Note, in that it was a joint US/UK session featuring American players Donald Byrd and Art Taylor, along with great Brit players Reece, Tubby Hayes, Terry Shannon, and Lloyd Thompson. Hayes is especially excellent here, and the record captures him at the peak of his young imaginative powers. With a two-trumpet frontline held down by Byrd and Reece, Hayes' tenor solos cut through hard and clean, with a deep soulful sound that makes him the most sparkling player on the session. Titles include "Close Up", "Blues In Trinity", "Color Blind", and "Round Midnight". © 1996-2019, Dusty Groove, Inc. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/515086/Dizzy-Reece:Blues-In-Trinity

Personnel: Dizzy Reece - trumpet; Donald Byrd - trumpet; Tubby Hayes - tenor saxophone; Terry Shannon - piano; Lloyd Thompson - bass; Art Taylor - drums

Blues In Trinity

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The Tubby Hayes Quartet - A Little Workout: Live At The Little Theatre

Styles: Saxophone And Flute Jazz

Year: 2018

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 65:20

Size: 150,8 MB

Art: Front

( 8:30) 1. A Change Of Setting

( 7:59) 2. Seven Steps To Heaven

(11:19) 3. For Members Only

( 5:58) 4. Here's That Rainy Day

(17:06) 5. Dear Johnny B.

(14:26) 6. Walkin'

William Blake wrote that ‘energy is eternal delight’. That thought prefigures the work here: the intensity, the tumbling ideas, the burning passion, the unrelenting drive. The opening of ‘A Change of Setting’ injects the spiralling dynamism that frequently underpins Hayes’ work. At times on ‘For Members Only’ the intensity is almost too much, it veers close to creative ecstasy. It is all part of a profound artistic vision based on intense impassioned energy that somehow is rooted in a technique that is at the complete service of Hayes’ ideas. ‘Here’s That Rainy Day’ is an interlude partially devoted to Mick Pyne. Hayes’ flute playing is almost an afterthought. Ron Mathewson is not favoured by the recording and the sound of Levin’s drums is at times reduced to a clatter. However, the recording as a whole, is more than acceptable and the sound of the tenor is rendered beautifully. I just can’t help wondering what this marvellous quartet would have sounded like with modern recording techniques. Hayes’ ‘Dear Johnny B’ is almost unrestrained. Hayes, at this time, obviously felt the need to cut free but he never loses the theme. Hayes aspired to be free but he was the most grounded of free players and all the more interesting for that. ‘Walkin’’ is the key track of the album. Hayes unfurls fifty choruses as he roars and races through: investigating, selecting, critiquing, assaying, all at turbo speed, music that is unrelenting, not for the faint-hearted. Hayes has been criticised for playing too many notes. If that was all he did, that criticism would be valid. There is more, over and over, Hayes tells an intense, fervent tale.

In the substantial notes, Simon Spillett angrily quotes a critic who wrote a disparaging review of Tubby Hayes claiming that Hayes lacked an artistic vision. Spillett strongly disputes that assessment. His passion for his subject permeates his writing. I always read Spillett’s writing, before listening to the music. He illuminates. As he often does, he puts the music into the historical context, setting the scene and whetting the appetite. Here, accompanying this album, there are 30 pages. Spillett mentions two other albums that were recorded at the same venue ‘Addictive Tendencies’ 4/12/66 and ‘Lament’ 2/4/67 both with Mathewson, Pyne and Levin. Obviously, the venue suited the quartet because the intensity on all three albums is similar. There is no doubt in Spillett’s mind that this album contains remarkable music.

Even now, there is nothing quite like Tubby Hayes in UK jazz: the energy, passion and drive still startles. This is a superlative example of his work from the mid-sixties as he moves forward. At the moment, we are living in an age of restraint in jazz; there are lessons to be learnt from this tumultuous music. Energy is eternal delight. ~ Jack Kenny http://www.jazzviews.net/tubby-hayes-quartet---a-little-workout.html

Personnel: Tubby Hayes(tenor saxophone and flute); Mike Pyne (piano); Ron Mathewson (bass); Tony Levin (drums)

A Little Workout: Live At The

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Tubby Hayes - Night and Day

Styles: Saxophone, Vibraphone And Flute Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:30
Size: 166,8 MB
Art: Front

(13:24)  1. Half a Sawbuck
( 8:22)  2. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
(18:05)  3. The Simple Waltz
(14:06)  4. I'm Old Fashioned
(18:31)  5. Night and Day

There are relatively few Tubby Hayes CD's currently available, making this collection of live performances from Ronnie Scott's club in London quite valuable. Hayes was a versatile bop-based performer who during the period covered by the set was showing a bit of the influence of Johnny Griffin and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Tubby is heard mostly on tenor but doubles on flute during Clark Terry's "The Simple Waltz" and sticks to vibes on "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most." 

The five lengthy performances (all but one are over 13 minutes long) also include some strong playing by Jimmy Deuchar (who is heard on trumpet and mellophonium on one song apiece) and pianists Terry Shannon and Mike Pyne. Reasonably well recorded for club appearances of the mid-1960's, this CD (whose music was initially released in 1996) is easily recommended to straightahead jazz collectors. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/night-and-day-mw0000082078

Personnel:  Tenor Saxophone, Vibraphone, Flute– Tubby Hayes; Bass – Freddy Logan, Jeff Clyne; Drums – Allan Ganley, Benny Goodman , Phil Seamen; Mellophone – Jimmy Deuchar; Piano – Terry Shannon; Trumpet – Jimmy Deuchar 

Night and Day

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Cleo Laine And The Tubby Hayes Quartet - Round Midnight

Styles: Vocal 
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:13
Size: 97,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:16)  1. Round Midnight
(2:36)  2. Hand Me Down Love
(2:45)  3. Mean to Me
(3:51)  4. Old Devil Moon
(3:25)  5. Just A'Sittin' and A'Rockin
(6:42)  6. All Members
(7:44)  7. Ah-Leu-Cha
(7:51)  8. Young and Foolish
(2:59)  9. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter

With a multi-octave voice similar to Betty Carter's, incredible scatting ability, and ease of transition from a throaty whisper to high-pitched trills, Cleo Laine was born in 1927 in the Southall section of London, the daughter of a Jamaican father and English mother. Her parents sent her to vocal and dance lessons as a teenager, but she was 25 when she first sang professionally, after a successful audition with the big band led by Johnny Dankworth. Both Laine and the band recorded for Esquire, MGM and Pye during the late '50s, and by 1958, she was married to Dankworth. With Dankworth by her side, Laine began her solo career in earnest with a 1964 album of Shakespeare lyrics set to Dankworth's arrangements, Shakespeare: And All That Jazz. Laine also gained renown for the first of three concert albums recorded at New York's Carnegie Hall, 1973's Cleo Laine Live! At Carnegie Hall. She also recorded two follow-ups (Return to Carnegie and The 10th Anniversary Concert) the latter of which in 1983 won her the first Grammy award by a Briton. She has proved a rugged stage actress as well, winning a Theater World award for her role in the Broadway musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, (in addition to Tony and Drama Desk nominations as well). In 1976 she recorded a jazz version of Porgy and Bess with Ray Charles, and also recorded duets with James Galway and guitarist John Williams. Laine and Dankworth continued to tour into the 1990s, and she received perhaps her greatest honor when she became the first jazz artist to receive the highest title available in the performing arts: Dame Commander. ~ John Bush https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cleo-laine-mn0000120273/biography

Round Midnight

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Tubby Hayes with Clark Terry - New York Sessions

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1961
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:39
Size: 172,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:39)  1. You For Me
(7:03)  2. Pint Of Bitter
(8:56)  3. Airegin
(7:33)  4. Opus Ocean
(7:36)  5. Soon
(9:14)  6. Doxie
(8:05)  7. Soho Soul
(9:00)  8. The Simple Waltz
(7:16)  9. Half A Sawbuck
(5:13) 10. You're My Everything

One of England's top jazz musicians of the 1950s and '60s, Tubby Hayes was a fine hard bop stylist on tenor and occasionally vibes and flute. A professional at 15, Hayes played with Kenny Baker and in the big bands of Ambrose, Vic Lewis, and Jack Parnell during 1951-1955. He led his own group after that, and started doubling on vibes in 1956. Hayes co-led the Jazz Couriers with Ronnie Scott (1957-1959), and appeared in the U.S. a few times during 1961-1965. He headed his own big band in London, sat in with Duke Ellington's Orchestra in 1964, and was featured at many European festivals. Heart trouble forced him out of action during 1969-1971, and caused his premature death. Tubby Hayes led sessions for Tempo (1955-1959), London, Jazzland (1959), Fontana, Epic (a 1961 date with Clark Terry and Horace Parlan), Smash (a 1962 album which matched him with James Moody and Roland Kirk), 77, Spotlite, and Mole. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tubby-hayes-mn0000842398/biography

Possessor of the happiest sound in jazz, flügelhornist Clark Terry always played music that was exuberant, swinging, and fun. A brilliant (and very distinctive) soloist, Terry gained fame for his "Mumbles" vocals (which started as a satire of the less intelligible ancient blues singers) and was also an enthusiastic educator. He gained early experience playing trumpet in the viable St. Louis jazz scene of the early '40s (where he was an inspiration for Miles Davis) and, after performing in a Navy band during World War II, he gained a strong reputation playing with the big band of Charlie Barnet (1947-1948), the orchestra and small groups of Count Basie (1948-1951), and particularly with Duke Ellington (1951-1959). Terry, a versatile swing/bop soloist who started specializing on flügelhorn in the mid-'50s, had many features with Ellington (including "Perdido"), and started leading his own record dates during that era. He visited Europe with Harold Arlen's unsuccessful Free & Easy show of 1959-1960 as part of Quincy Jones' Orchestra, and then joined the staff of NBC where he was a regular member of the Tonight Show Orchestra. He recorded regularly in the '60s, including a classic set with the Oscar Peterson Trio and several dates with the quintet he co-led with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Throughout the '70s, '80s, and '90s, Terry remained a major force, recording and performing in a wide variety of settings, including as the head of his short-lived big band in the mid-'70s, with all-star groups for Pablo, and as a guest artist who provided happiness in every note he played. Terry died on February 21, 2015, at age 94, after an extended battle with diabetes. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/clark-terry-mn0000133832/biography

Personnel: Tenor Saxophone – Tubby Hayes;  Trumpet – Clark Terry; Bass – George Duvivier;  Drums –Dave Bailey;  Piano – Horace Parlan;  Vibraphone – Eddie Costa 

New York Sessions

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Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott - The Couriers of Jazz!

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:38
Size: 98,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:30)  1. Mirage
(7:55)  2. After Tea
(3:49)  3. Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!
(4:04)  4. In Salah
(4:11)  5. Star Eyes
(4:40)  6. The Monk
(6:21)  7. My Funny Valentine
(6:04)  8. Day In - Day Out

Tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott looms among the towering figures of Britain's postwar jazz scene, exerting equal influence as a performer and as the owner of the world-famous club bearing his name. He was born Ronald Schatt in the east end of London on January 28, 1927 his father, dance band saxophonist Jock Scott, separated from his mother shortly after his birth. After first purchasing a cornet from a local junk shop, Scott then moved to the soprano saxophone, finally settling on the tenor sax during his teens; at a local youth club he began performing with aspiring drummer Tony Crombie, and soon began playing the occasional professional gig. After backing bandleader Carlo Krahmer, Scott toured with trumpeter Johnny Claes in 1945, joining the hugely popular Ted Heath Big Band the following year; however, changing economics made the big bands increasingly unfeasible, and as the nascent bebop sound developing across the Atlantic began making its way to the U.K., he and Crombie traveled to New York City to explore the source firsthand. Scott would regularly return to New York after signing on to play alongside alto saxophonist Johnny Dankworth on the transatlantic ocean liner the Queen Mary. Despite his travels Scott remained a linchpin of the growing London bop scene, and in late 1948 he co-founded Club Eleven, the first U.K. club devoted to modern jazz. During this time he developed the lyrical but harmonically complex style that would remain the hallmark of his career, first backing drummer Jack Parnell before finally forming his own band in 1953. The nine-piece group made its public debut in conjunction with a London appearance by Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic touring revue working from arrangements by trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar, the Scott band's debut proved a landmark moment in the history of British jazz, in many respects heralding the true starting point of the postwar era. Not all of Scott's instincts were sound in 1955, he briefly assembled a full-size big band, to disastrous creative and commercial results but when he officially dissolved the group in 1956, he was a household name throughout Britain. In 1957 he co-founded the Jazz Couriers with fellow tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes, scaling to even greater heights of fame. The Jazz Couriers amicably split in 1959.     

Around this time Scott began to again entertain the notion of a London-based jazz club in the tradition of the landmarks dotting New York's 52nd Street along with Pete King, a longtime collaborator who'd recently retired from active performing, he borrowed the money necessary to lease the building at 39 Gerrard Street and on October 31, 1959 opened Ronnie Scott's Club for business. Scott himself co-headlined the opening night along with Hayes and Parnell sales were promising, but the venue only began reaching true critical mass in 1961 when it hosted its first American act, Scott favorite Zoot Sims. In the months to follow, Ronnie Scott's was the setting of performances by a who's who of American tenor icons including Dexter Gordon, Roland Kirk, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt, Ben Webster, and Sonny Rollins. In late 1965 the club moved to its present location on Frith Street, where before the end of the decade it would host everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Albert Ayler, becoming the epicenter of London's jazz community. Although the club consumed much of his time, Scott continued touring with a quartet featuring pianist Stan Tracey during the late 1960s, he also spearheaded an eight-piece group with whom he created the most idiosyncratic and experimental music of his career. At the time of Scott's death on December 23, 1996, his namesake club was perhaps the most famous jazz venue in all of Europe.~ Jason Ankeny https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ronnie-scott-mn0000332807/biography                           

Personnel:  Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott (tenor sax), Terry Shannon (piano), Jeff Clyne (bass), and Bill Eyden (drums).

The Couriers of Jazz!

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Tubby Hayes, Tony Coe - Jazz Tete A Tete

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:25
Size: 104.0 MB
Styles: Bop Saxophone jazz
Year: 1993
Art: Front

[ 8:10] 1. Freedom Monday
[10:52] 2. Everybody Split
[ 4:34] 3. The Jeep Is Jumpin'
[ 5:47] 4. The Blues We Played Last Night
[ 4:32] 5. Blues For Sunday
[ 3:43] 6. Polka Dots And Moonbeams
[ 7:43] 7. Tenderly

This CD contains seven selections performed at the Students Union Hall at Bristol University by three separate British jazz groups. At times sounding close to Stan Getz tonewise, tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes has two lengthy numbers while joined by trumpeter Les Condon, pianist Mike Pyne, bassist Ron Matthewson and drummer Tony Levin. In contrast, tenorman Tony Coe (who is featured on three songs, including a version of "Tenderly" not released until this 1993 CD) often recalls Paul Gonsalves, particularly on "The Jeep Is Jumpin'." He is joined by trombonist John Picard, pianist Collin Purbrook, bassist Peter Ind and drummer Jackie Dougan. In addition, there are two numbers (a blues and "Polka Dots and Moonbeams") performed by guitarist Frank Evans in a trio with Ind and Dougan. Overall, Coe takes solo honors during the concert, and it is unfortunate that he does not get to team up with Hayes. ~Scott Yanow

Jazz Tete A Tete mc
Jazz Tete A Tete zippy

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Cleo Laine & Tubby Hayes - Palladium Jazz Date

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:31
Size: 97,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:53)  1. Old Devil Moon
(3:29)  2. Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
(2:46)  3. Mean To Me
(4:17)  4. 'Round Midnight
(2:37)  5. Hand Me Down Love
(3:03)  6. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
(7:39)  7. Ah-Leu-Cha
(7:55)  8. Young And Foolish
(6:47)  9. All Members

With a multi-octave voice similar to Betty Carter's, incredible scatting ability, and ease of transition from a throaty whisper to high-pitched trills, Cleo Laine was born in 1927 in the Southall section of London, the daughter of a Jamaican father and English mother. Her parents sent her to vocal and dance lessons as a teenager, but she was 25 when she first sang professionally, after a successful audition with the big band led by Johnny Dankworth. Both Laine and the band recorded for Esquire, MGM and Pye during the late '50s, and by 1958, she was married to Dankworth. With Dankworth by her side, Laine began her solo career in earnest with a 1964 album of Shakespeare lyrics set to Dankworth's arrangements, Shakespeare: And All That Jazz. Laine also gained renown for the first of three concert albums recorded at New York's Carnegie Hall, 1973's Cleo Laine Live! At Carnegie Hall. She also recorded two follow-ups (Return to Carnegie and The 10th Anniversary Concert) the latter of which in 1983 won her the first Grammy award by a Briton. She has proved a rugged stage actress as well, winning a Theater World award for her role in the Broadway musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, (in addition to Tony and Drama Desk nominations as well). In 1976 she recorded a jazz version of Porgy and Bess with Ray Charles, and also recorded duets with James Galway and guitarist John Williams. Laine and Dankworth continued to tour into the 1990s, and she received perhaps her greatest honor when she became the first jazz artist to receive the highest title available in the performing arts: Dame Commander.
John Bush https://itunes.apple.com/nz/artist/cleo-laine/id2214762#fullText

Palladium Jazz Date

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Tubby Hayes Orchestra - 100% Proof

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:34
Size: 97,7 MB
Art: Front

(14:13)  1. 100% Proof
( 6:31)  2. Night In Tunisia
( 7:43)  3. Milestones
( 4:39)  4. Sonnymoon For Two
( 5:06)  5. Bluesology
( 4:19)  6. Nutty

"But being as this is 100% Proof, the most powerful big band album in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk? As a jazz fan himself, I'm sure Clint 'Dirty Harry' Eastwood wouldn't object too much to the plagiarising and adaptation of one of his most famous lines, but it does seem strangely appropriate to apply it to one of the best big band albums ever made. But, "and I know what you're thinking , why all the hype? Well, maybe hype is what's needed in order to get folks to listen to something of outstanding quality and originality that's been sadly overlooked for nearly forty years. 100% Proof represented the pinnacle of modern British jazz in the '60s. The stellar line-up of musicians employed on the record underpinned its sumptuous and gloriously overstated arrangements. In order to assess the album in terms of the canon of outstanding jazz recordings, it is important to avoid the all-too ubiquitous stereotyping of Brit-jazz or 'British ness' (whatever this means) as applied to Tubby Hayes. Although certainly one of the UK's most famous jazz musician by a mile, (perhaps second only to his friend and one time fellow Jazz Courier, Ronnie Scott who was undoubtedly the most famous jazz musician in Britain, probably because he owned one of the greatest jazz clubs in the world, although Scott himself, like Hayes was a world-class tenor player and indeed played and soloed on 100% Proof) Hayes was also England's most accomplished musician and arranger. His fame was not limited to the parochial shores of the sceptered isle. Tubbs travelled on more than one occasion to the USA where he played as part of a musician exchange deal. He recorded with many of the greats of jazz including, amongst others, Clark Terry, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, James Moody, Louis Hayes, Horace Parlan, Eddie Costa, and had already recorded in the UK with the likes of Dizzy Reece, Victor Feldman and John Dankworth. He even famously sat in with the Ellington band on one of their concerts in London, with virtually no notice.

So without doubt, Tubby Hayes was a global player who, had he lived longer than his 38 years and been in good health, which had steadily deteriorated over the latter part of his life, would have been recognised as the most significant and talented musician to emanate from the United Kingdom, even in comparison to other later eminences from Britain including the redoubtable John McLaughlin, John Surman and Dave Holland. By the beginning of the '60s, Hayes had moved from the small British Tempo label to the Philips-owned Fontana label which had international connections and other prestigious jazz stars recording for it, such as John Dankworth. 100% Proof, recorded in London on 10, 12 and 13 May 1966, was a follow-up to Hayes' previous big-band album Tubbs' Tours recorded in 1964. Tubbs' Tours was a very successful session with some wonderful tracks which drilled deeply into the memory banks of the brain. Perhaps the most notable, though least vaunted, of these tracks was Tubbs' own composition, the elegant "In the Night on which he played flute. Other standout tracks include "Pedro's Waltz and "The Killers of W1. Tubbs' Tours really has to be heard to appreciate the dynamism of Tubbs' big band arrangements. 100% Proof was different to Tubbs' Tours in that there were fewer tracks and a warmer sound, perhaps due to being performed by a more well-rehearsed big band that had played together for quite a while.

The arrangement of the title track was Tubby Hayes own work. He also did a fine job arranging "Milestones and "Bluesology. Trumpeter Ian Hamer did a superlative job arranging "Sonnymoon for Two and especially "Night in Tunisia transforming it into something extremely different, volatile and very powerful, and arguably one of the best arrangements ever heard of this terrific number. The final track "Nutty was arranged by Stan Tracey, who was an excellent arranger as well as a superb pianist with a unique style. All the arrangements are so good that they transform what might otherwise be a predominantly 'standards' type album into a totally novel one. To a certain extent it's the arrangements of these standards that push the boundaries of this recording into unchartered waters of cohesion, dynamics and originality. The personnel on the album comprised some of the most talented jazz musicians in Britain at that time and included Roy Willox, Ray Warleigh, Ronnie Scott, Bob Efford, Ronnie Ross and Harry Klein on saxophones. Kenny Baker, Ian Hamer, Greg Bowen, Les Condon and Kenny Wheeler played trumpets. Keith Christie, Nat Peck, Johnny Marshall and Chris Smith were on trombones. The rhythm section was made up of Gordon Beck on piano, Jeff Clyne on bass and and Ronnie Stephenson/Johnny Butts on drums. Tubbs plays with equal confidence and ability tenor, flute and vibes and positively tears up a storm on "100% Proof with his trusty tenor sax deployed in his typically shaken not stirred style, although paradoxically leaving the listener both shaken and stirred. Interestingly there are a couple of short phrases in Tubbs' solo here that seem to have influenced at least a couple of other British sax players of the next generation.

His sensitive flute playing is heard on Dizzy Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia and Miles Davis' "Milestones where Gordon Beck has a good piano solo too followed by further Tubby tenoring. Sonny Rollins' "Sonnymoon for Two has further typically coruscating Hayes tenor and on the penultimate track, Milt Jackson's "Bluesology he demonstrates his outstanding ability on vibes which is closely followed by an excellent Ronnie Scott tenor solo. The recording concludes with Thelonius Monk's "Nutty where Tubbs takes a step back to allow Ray Warleigh and Les Condon to shine on the solos whilst Hayes can be heard on flute in the orchestra. Perhaps the defining 'proof' of the success of 100% Proof was its success in the Melody Maker jazz polls of 1968 where it came top in the LP of the year section. Also in that poll Hayes won first position in the top musician, flute, tenor and vibes categories. Although originally issued in both mono and stereo on the Fontana label and a few years ago disappointingly issued in mono only on a Japanese CD reissue, it really is important to hear this album in stereo. Produced at a time when stereophonic recording was still something of a novelty, it clearly demonstrates how essential it is to have big band jazz spread out over a wide aural spectrum, and the mono and stereo versions of the album do sound different, the former distinctly less effective. One of the ironies of Hayes dying so young was that his fame was based primarily on his playing and his recordings, yet during the '60s, the last full decade of his career, his composing abilities had begun, albeit in a modest way, to burgeon. It was only with his penultimate Fontana studio album Mexican Green that he had composed an entire album of material. 

Listening to the BBC recording that was posthumously released as 200% Proof on the Mastermix label, it was clear that his compositional skills were on an upward trajectory. It is quite probable that the main obstacle to his composing hitherto was the fact that he was kept so busy with playing both live gigs and as an in-demand session musician and ironically, only when he, perforce, started to slow down due to ill-health did he have more time to write. As it states on the LP's original sleevenotes, written by Terry Brown, it was without hesitation and a unanimous decision by all concerned that when they heard the playback tapes of 100% Proof the only title that could possibly be used for the LP title was indeed 100% Proof. This was surely not merely a measure of loyalty but a gauge of the strength of the music Hayes had composed and arranged. 100% Proof will certainly 'blow your head clean off.'~Roger Farbey http://www.allaboutjazz.com/tubby-hayes-100-proof-by-roger-farbey.php 

Personnel: Tubby Hayes (tenor sax, flute, vibes); Roy Willox, Ray Warleigh, Ronnie Scott, Bob Efford, Ronnie Ross and Harry Klein (saxophones); Kenny Baker, Ian Hamer, Greg Bowen, Les Condon and Kenny Wheeler (trumpets); Keith Christie, Nat Peck, Johnny Marshall and Chris Smith (trombones); Gordon Beck (piano); Jeff Clyne (bass); Ronnie Stephenson, Johnny Butts (drums).

100% Proof

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Tubby Hayes - Tubby's Groove

Styles: Saxophone Jazz

Year: 1960

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 40:05

Size: 91,8 MB

Art: Front

(9:29)  1. Tin Tin Deo

(5:11)  2. Embers

(5:48)  3. Like Some One In Love

(6:06)  4. Surrey With The Fringe On Top

(7:41)  5. Sunny Monday

(5:47)  6. Blue Hayes

One of England's top jazz musicians of the 1950s and '60s, Tubby Hayes was a fine hard bop stylist on tenor and occasionally vibes and flute. A professional at 15, Hayes played with Kenny Baker and in the big bands of Ambrose, Vic Lewis, and Jack Parnell during 1951-1955. He led his own group after that, and started doubling on vibes in 1956. Hayes co-led the Jazz Couriers with Ronnie Scott (1957-1959), and appeared in the U.S. a few times during 1961-1965. He headed his own big band in London, sat in with Duke Ellington's Orchestra in 1964, and was featured at many European festivals. Heart trouble forced him out of action during 1969-1971, and caused his premature death. Tubby Hayes led sessions for Tempo (1955-1959), London, Jazzland (1959), Fontana, Epic (a 1961 date with Clark Terry and Horace Parlan), Smash (a 1962 album which matched him with James Moody and Roland Kirk), 77, Spotlite, and Mole.~Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tubby-hayes-mn0000842398/biography

Personnel :  Tubby Hayes (tenor sax);  Terry Shannon (piano);  Jeff Clyne (bass);  Phil Seamen (drums)

Tubby's Groove

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