Tubby Hayes

[Gary]

I've just listened to this from the select for the first time

& really enjoyed Tubby Hayes' sound , its the first time I've listened properly to his work - I must have more!

Are there any of his titles you chaps can recommend , Thanks in advance.

[king ubu]

I'm in the same boat as you, Gary. Love Hayes on this album!

The only other recording I have is the one in the Kirk box - with James Moody as the third horn. Long time no listen, though.

He also plays vibes, by the way.

Where are the britons? Tell us what to look for!

ubu

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

The only Tubby I've heard to date that I didn't much care for is 'Night and Day' (although the solo vibes track 'Spring Can Really Get You Down' is a nice one).....I guess it's because it sounds exceptionally 'tinnie' on my system.

<<<<Where are the britons? Tell us what to look for!>>>

......and when we're finished with Tubbs, how's this one?

Edited March 29, 2004 by Son-of-a-Weizen

[brownie]

Now don't start me on Tubby Hayes! The guy was a giant. Some quick recommendations:

the first three were recorded at Ronnie Scott's Club,

- Down in the Village (reissued on EmArcy),

- 'Late Spot at Scott's (also reissued on EmArcy),

- 'Night and Day' (Ronnie Scott's Jazz)

- Tubby Hayes Quartet in Scandinavia (Storyville)

but there are plenty more. Mole Jazz, Jasmine and Spotlite reissued a lot of excellent Hayes material but am not sure these are readily available.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I've only recently discovered the Tubbs as well. That rendering of "Round Midnight" on the BiT is just fantastic!

It was the two live dates from Scott's that are just so essential. They are right up there with the live BN Blakeys and the newly listened to BMG Wilen / Dorham at St. Germain. These Fontanas are now available as really expensive and no doubt cheesily wrapped Japano-minis at Dusty Groove. The two sets should be re-issued for the normal public as a double and should stay in circulation with all the greats. The 'doorbells' on "Down in the Village".... ooooh baby!

Big thanks to P.D. who tipped me in the right direction of the Tubby when I first started exploring promptly after the Gilles Peterson "Impressed" disc, and no doubt he will weigh in on this thread.

The other easily gotten Tubby (and Reece) is some of his side work on Victor Feldman's 'Suite Sixteen'.

Thanks for starting up a Hayes thread in earnest. I'll be lurking here.

[MartyJazz]

Now don't start me on Tubby Hayes! The guy was a giant. Some quick recommendations:

the first three were recorded at Ronnie Scott's Club,

- Down in the Village (reissued on EmArcy),

- 'Late Spot at Scott's (also reissued on EmArcy),

- 'Night and Day' (Ronnie Scott's Jazz)

- Tubby Hayes Quartet in Scandinavia (Storyville)

but there are plenty more. Mole Jazz, Jasmine and Spotlite reissued a lot of excellent Hayes material but am not sure these are readily available.

I second your recommendations but in particular the first two (DOWN IN THE VILLAGE and LATE SPOT AT SCOTT'S which I have on the Redial label) which were recorded during the same week of May '62. They are truly fantastic recordings. Everyone's on fire and the trumpeter in particular, Jimmy Deuchar, was quite a revelation to me when I first obtained these discs. Very evocative of Kenny Dorham with technique to spare. And Hayes is superb throughout, certainly on tenor and soprano, but on vibes (!) as well. He was truly a giant of a jazz musician. Hayes' comments and humor between tracks are also a plus. Very highly recommended.

[robviti]

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned the Columbia reissue The New York Sessions. Perhaps that's because it's long oop and quite hard to find. Still, this compilation of tracks from Introducing Tubbs and Tubby the Tenor served as my introduction to Hayes, and they remain some of my favorite recordings by him.

Edited March 29, 2004 by jazzshrink

[DrJ]

That Columbia NEW YORK SESSIONS is indeed great - and unlike many of the earlier Columbia / Legacy CD reissues, the remastering is excellent.

Still having said that, Hayes' playing does wear a bit thin on my ears over extended listens. It's probably my own inadequacy rather than anything "wrong" with his playing, but those long long lines with few breathing pauses are exhausting after a while! Kind of like listening to Art Tatum on piano, a few tracks at a time is the best way to really appreciate that kind of thing for us mere mortals.

I really like the two Emarcy live CDs mentioned below also.

[MartyJazz]

That Columbia NEW YORK SESSIONS is indeed great - and unlike many of the earlier Columbia / Legacy CD reissues, the remastering is excellent.

Still having said that, Hayes' playing does wear a bit thin on my ears over extended listens.

It is indeed a great album, but I tend to favor the non-Clark Terry cuts, i.e., "You for Me", "Soon" and in particular, "Airegin" all of which feature extended tenor solos. His playing certainly doesn't "wear" on these ears.

[JohnS]

I've just read in the IAJRC Journal that they have a 2 cd set by Tubbs in the works - IARJC CD 1019-2.

[EKE BBB]

I discovered this guy recently, as well, thanks to a very looong thread at AAJ. He´s got an infectious swing. I must pick many, many more discs...

[jazzbo]

That Columbia cd (an English copy!) is the one that got ME started some years back. . . . I've grabbed all I can find of his since! A MASTER! If I just had to have ONE it just might be the Storyville. . . .

[brownie]

I've just read in the IAJRC Journal that they have a 2 cd set by Tubbs in the works - IARJC CD 1019-2.

IAJRC already released an LP by Tubby Hayes back in 1987. The album included broadcast performances made between 1957 and 1972 with various groups. Excellent album.

[clifford_thornton]

All those Fontanas are sweet... thankfully someone in Japan is reissuing some of the rarer titles. "Mexican Green" is Tubbs' "Inner Urge," and should not be missed.

[P.D.]

See this thread

Tubby Hayes

Possibly the best place to start is Big Band... 100% proof

Quartet ... Mexican Green

These are both Fontana reissues Japanese styleThe Jasmines feature early Hayes.. still worth seeking out, once you've got the two above, or picked up the Hayes habit.

The Jazz Couriers were a two tenor group , frontlined by Hayes and Ronnie Scott.. Hayes occasionally changing the tone with flute or vibraphone contributions.

Most of their albums were reissued on Jasmine too

There was one on Carlton.. currently available via Fresh Sounds

The Jasmines.. if not easily found in American stockpiles, are still fully listed on British websites.

Hayes USA recordings ( with Clark Terry and Kirk)are also worth it but are generally OOP

Read the above link to an Org. thread which warns of possible mis representation of the Costanzo album as being a full Hayes performance.

I am not a member of IAJRC.. but would appreciate details of what to expect on the proposed 2CD set.

I understand some peoples reservations about Hayes.. Branford Marsalis was not too complementary in a Jazz Review BF test.. but Hayes remains one of the top British Jazz performers in any style.....

And we love to promote him whenever possible.

[sidewinder]

This thread resurrected for another recommendation for Tubbophiles.

'Blue Hayes - The Tempo Anthology' (Jasmine JASCD 632 2CDs) has a good compilation of the 50s Tempo sessions on disk 1 and half of disk 2. Of particular interest on the remainder of disk 2 though is an amateur live reccording at the Torrington, North Finchley of Tubby's Big Band. Not a great recording (understatement) and a bit ragged in parts but some really inspired solos from Tubby and Louis Stewart plus nice work from Alan Skidmore. The version here of '100% Proof' is a gem and the live atmosphere most infectious. Recommended !

Tragic though to think that within a year of this big band gig Tubby was in intensive care for open heart surgery.

Edited December 11, 2004 by sidewinder

[Late]

Check out this search. Some of the Japanese Fontanas are $18.99, which isn't too bad.

[Victor Christensen]

This is what I have with Tubby H., and I really like them all very much, and strongly recommend, if you can find them, I know some is very hard to find.

Tubby's Back In Town

New York Sessions

Down In The Village

Late Spot At Scott's

Night And Day

Live 1969

Quartet In Scandinavia

Couriers Of Jazz (with Ronnie Scott)

Vic

[sidewinder]

Check out this search. Some of the Japanese Fontanas are $18.99, which isn't too bad.

I was wondering how the Japanese Fontanas of the two live sessions at Scotts compare soundwise with the UK Redial re-issues. Anyone have any opinions on this?

[sidewinder]

Check out this search. Some of the Japanese Fontanas are $18.99, which isn't too bad.

That's a pretty good price for the Jap Fontanas. Amazon UK is listing these at £25 and up . With the £/$ as it is at the moment, I think I'll place a Tubby Fontana order with The Bastards. Will pass on the Constanzo and the Cleo Laine though.

Incidentally, I've just seen an original vinyl of 'Down In The Village' sell for £500..

Edited December 12, 2004 by sidewinder

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I was wondering how the Japanese Fontanas of the two live sessions at Scotts compare soundwise with the UK Redial re-issues. Anyone have any opinions on this?

The Japanese Fontanas have not impressed me sound-wise. In fact, they used a mono mix for "Mexican Green". I imagine that the live dates can't get much better than the Redial CDs, which sound OK to me. They are live dates so the fidelity is only so good to begin with.

I am a big Hayes nut. They are not many dates of his that I don't have. One is the big band date that was issued on CD many years ago called "200% Proof". Big band turned free jazz. Hectic and wild and not my style. I sold the CD. Of course, that was years ago. I might play it today and like it. Too bad it's not easy to find any more.

Later,

Kevin

[sidewinder]

Kevin - thanks for the thoughts on the Japanese Fontanas. Ah well, I've ordered them now.

I gave a spin earlier today to my Mole Jazz reissue LP of 'Mexican Green' (originally released in the early 1980s). Its in stereo but I can't say I was wildly enthusiastic with the sound, which is a bit on the 'thin' side. My Fontana mono original of '100% Proof' on the other hand sounded just dandy - typical 1960s Fontana brilliance. Clearly, the Fontana LPs are the way to go if you can get hold of them.

It will be nice to hear 'Tubbs' and 'Tubbs Tours' when they arrive. I've heard very good things about these two, just hope the mastering does them justice. I wonder if these Japanese Fontanas were mastered off of LPs or were taken from the original master tapes?

'200% Proof' is another one that I would like to check out. I suspect that the live big band material on 'Blue Hayes' would have similarity to this one.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I may be wrong but I think the two older Japanese Fontanas of "Mexican Green" and "100% Proof" are not remastered by the same person who did the new series that are highlighted above by Late. The newer issues of the Scott's two are stupendous sounding in comparison. Just my opinion.

[sidewinder]

Good to hear that !

[sidewinder]

No qualms at all re: the sound quality of this batch of Hayes Fontanas. The two Ronnie Scotts live dates, 'Tubbs' and 'Tubbs Tours' are all in stereo and sound pretty damn good to me. Other than parting with £500 for an original mint vinyl 'Down In The Village', this is about as good as it gets. I compared the title track of 'Down In The Village' on the Jap Fontana to the version included on the Gilles Peterson 'Impressed' compilation and if anything, it is even better than the fine sounding version on the Peterson. Great music, 'Tubbs Tours' in particular is a real find with some nice Ronnie Ross (paging Tooter.... ) on alto. Dusty Groove strikes again !