Tubby Hayes

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For other people named Edward Hayes, see Edward Hayes (disambiguation).

Tubby Hayes
Tubby Hayes c. 1959
Tubby Hayes c. 1959
Background information
Birth nameEdward Brian Hayes
Born(1935-01-30)30 January 1935
St Pancras, London, England
Died8 June 1973(1973-06-08) (aged 38)
Hammersmith, London, England
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Saxophones, flute, vibraphone
Years active1951–1973

Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes (30 January 1935[1] – 8 June 1973)[2] was a British jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his virtuosic musicianship on tenor saxophone and for performing in jazz groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar.[3] He is widely considered to be one of the finest jazz saxophonists to have emerged from Britain.[4][5][6]

Early life

Hayes was born in St Pancras, London, England, and grew up in Raynes Park, south-west London.[7] His father was a BBC studio violinist who gave his son violin lessons from an early age.[8] By the age of ten, Hayes was playing the piano, and started on the tenor sax at 11. Dizzy Gillespie was an early influence:[9]

I always used to listen to swing music in the early 'Forties and, in fact, I was just a kid at the time. I did not really intend becoming a tenor player, though I always liked tenor. I think maybe Dizzy influenced me more than Parker because he was sort of more accessible, he caught your attention more. As far as my influences over the years are concerned, Getz was it at one stage in the proceedings, and later Rollins, Coltrane, Hank Mobley and, to a lesser degree, even Zoot [Sims].

Hayes attended Rutlish School (1946-1951) in Merton Park.[10] After a period spent playing with various semi-professional bands around London, Hayes left school and started playing professionally at the age of 16.[11]

Career

1951–58

Hayes's youthful promise on tenor saxophone was recognised in 1951 when, aged 16, he joined Kenny Baker's sextet,[12] and later for big-band leaders such as Ambrose, Terry Brown, Tito Burns, Roy Fox, Vic Lewis and Jack Parnell.[13] With the assistance of music impresario Tito Burns,[14] Hayes formed his own octet in 1955, known as Tubby Hayes & His Orchestra. The group toured the UK extensively and recorded several sessions for Tempo Records but disbanded in 1956 as Hayes pursued other musical opportunities, including his own quartet.[15]

Hayes's voracious musical interests resulted in his learning the

woodwind instruments; in 1958 Hayes began learning flute and made his recording debut on the instrument a year later. He continued to feature the flute alongside his saxophone performances to the end of his recording career.[16]

Hayes's breakthrough came in 1957 when he joined fellow tenor saxophonist

Dave Brubeck Quartet.[21]

1959–67

By 1959, Hayes had reformed his quartet, resulting in the recording of Tubby's Groove. Released in the spring of 1960, Tubby's Groove was widely considered to be Hayes's best session to date, selling well and acquiring positive attention from the music press for its "maturity".

Jazz Messengers, although neither worked with Blakey.[6] Hall sought a similar arrangement with Blue Note for Hayes as Reece but instead of negotiating an arrangement for what was deemed to be Hayes's best LP, Tubby's Groove, Hall sent a separate collection of tracks gathered from the same session recordings. Lion had it sequenced into an album for future release, but never issued it.[23] This un-issued session was later re-discovered in 2008 and issued as Tubby's New Groove.[17]

Hayes signed to

Sam Jones and Louis Hayes,[3] and performed at the Washington Jazz Festival and the Half Note.[27] Hayes played at the Half Note once again in 1964, at the Boston Jazz Workshop the same year, and at Shelly Manne's Manne-Hole in Los Angeles in 1965.[17] Back in London, Hayes formed his own big band, working in television, film and radio, and even having his own television series (1961–1963).[3] He stood in for Paul Gonsalves in February 1964 (with whom he also recorded twice: Just Friends recorded in February 1964, issued by Columbia, and Change of Setting recorded a year later), when the Ellington orchestra played at the Royal Festival Hall.[28]

As well as leading his own bands and recording under his own name, Hayes also appeared on recordings by other UK-based jazz musicians, such as the

R&B and rock and roll.[7][11] The British jazz circuit went 'a bit quiet' for a time and Hayes increasingly found himself working abroad,[31] as well as cultivating a reputation as a session musician in diverse genres, including on such left-field recordings as Music in a Doll's House, the 1967 debut album by rock band Family.[32]

Hayes appeared in a number of films, including

All Night Long with Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus,[33] and (with his group) in A King in New York directed by Charlie Chaplin,[34] The Beauty Jungle[35] and Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.[36] His contribution to film also included soundtrack appearances, including of the 1963 British film Stolen Hours, starring Susan Hayward.[30]

1968–73

Hayes's issues arising from the downturn in the UK jazz circuit were made worse by a combination of relationship, alcohol and narcotics issues, which by 1968 had begun to publicly affect his career.[7] He was arrested at his home in Chelsea in August 1968 for possession of heroin[4][37] and, owing to his difficulties with addiction, was given a suspended sentence.[38] By the end of the following year, he had begun to experience breathing difficulties when playing, the latest in a long series of afflictions. In July 1971, he underwent open heart surgery to replace the mitral valve.[12] This operation was successful and he began his comeback with an overseas tour, including a successful trip to Scandinavia in February 1972 where he performed with his Scandinavian quartet,[39] featuring Staffan Abeleen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Alex Riel. A live performance of this quartet was captured on Tubby Hayes Quartet In Scandinavia, issued by Storyville.[40]

Memorial to Tubby Hayes, Golders Green Crematorium

Hayes died in June 1973, during a second heart operation at the

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."[41]

Legacy

Hayes left a legacy of recordings which became sought-after collectors' items, almost all of which have been re-issued on CD. Despite a rumour that some early Tempo master tapes owned by Decca were discarded by the company,[42] it was discovered that certain masters did still exist, including those for Tubby's Groove. Further tapes from this session were sent to Blue Note Records for consideration in 1960 but were subsequently lost until they were rediscovered in 2008. These were included in the album Tubby's New Groove, issued by Candid in 2011.[17]

A full-length biography, The Long Shadow of The Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes, by Simon Spillett, was published in 2015.[30] The book received praise in both the specialist and non-specialist press, and was nominated among the top books of 2015 by The Guardian.[43] Spillett has also catalogued Hayes's private tape archive and has organised the release of many previously unheard Hayes sessions on labels including Art Of Life, Rare Music, Fontana, Harkit, Tentoten, Savage Solweig, Gearbox, Trunk Records, Candid, Jasmine, Proper, Acrobat, Fantastic Voyage, Avid and Real Gone Jazz.[44]

A documentary film, Tubby Hayes: A Man In A Hurry, was released in 2015.[45] Directed by Lee Cogswell and produced by Mark Baxter, with narration by actor Martin Freeman, the film explored Hayes's life and influence on the UK jazz music scene of the 1950s and 1960s. The film was received favourably by critics as an affectionate but tragic portrait of Hayes.[46][47]

Discography

With Jack Costanzo

  • Equation In Rhythm (Fontana TFL 5190/STFL 598, 1962)

With Tony Crombie and His Men

With

Johnny Dankworth
and His Orchestra

  • What the Dickens!
     (Fontana TL 5203, 1963)

With Jimmy Deuchar

With Georgie Fame and The Harry South Big Band

With Victor Feldman

With Paul Gonsalves

  • Just Friends (Columbia EMI SX 6003, 1964)
  • Change of Setting (World Record Club ST 631, 1965 [rel. 1967])

With Dizzy Reece

With Lalo Schifrin

With The Stan Tracey Big Band

  • Alice In Jazz Land (Columbia EMI SX 6051, 1966)

References

  1. ^ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1935 1b 171 PANCRAS – Edward B. Hayes, mmn = Roche
  2. ^ GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1973 5b 1627 HAMMERSMITH, DoB = 30 January 1935
  3. ^ a b c Hayes, Tubby (1963). "Tubby Hayes: Interview 1". National Jazz Archive. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b Bungey, John (2019). "This fine jazz man will blow you away". The Times. No. 12 July. Times Media Limited. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. ^ Prince, Bill (2015). "Why Tubby Hayes was our greatest-ever jazz saxophonist". GQ Magazine. No. 27 November. Condé Nast. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Orgill, Edward Roy (2008). Blue Hayes: An analysis of the performance style of jazz saxophonist Tubby Hayes. Greeley, Colorado: University of Northern Colorado. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Burrell, Ian (2015). "Tubby Hayes: British jazz's forgotten genius is being rediscovered, thanks to fans including Martin Freeman". The Independent. No. 18 October. Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Rosie, John (6 April 2020). "Tubby Hayes (1935–73)". National Jazz Archive. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  9. ^ Wilmer, Valerie. "Talkin' with Tubby". Jazz News and Review, Vol. 7. No. 22, August 1963, p. 14.
  10. ^ Rutlish School. "Rutlish School Alumni". Rutlish School. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  11. ^ a b Myers, Marc (2022). "The Untold Story of Tubby Hayes: 1965". AllAboutJazz. All About Jazz & Jazz Near You. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  12. ^
    ISBN 1-85227-745-9
    .
  13. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "Tubby Hayes". Blue Note Records. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  14. ^ Leigh, Spencer (2010). "Tito Burns: 1940s bandleader who went on to manage Cliff Richard and promote the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix". The Independent. No. 17 September. Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  15. ^ Taylor, David (2009). "Tubby Hayes Orchestra..." British Modern Jazz - from the 1940s onwards... David Taylor. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  16. ^ May, Chris (2021). "Tubby Hayes: Free Flight". AllAboutJazz. All About Jazz & Jazz Near You. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h Spillett, Simon (18 October 2021). "Tubby Hayes: How The Little Giant Conquered The Big Apple". Jazzwise. 2021 (October). Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  18. ^ English Heritage (2019). "SCOTT, Ronnie (1927-1996)". Blue Plaques - English Heritage. English Heritage. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  19. ISBN 9780750953108
    . Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  20. ^ Martin, John (1960). "The Little Giant of the Tenor Saxophone". Jazz News. 4 (30): 3–4. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  21. ^ Fordham, John (2008). "The Jazz Couriers, Some of My Best Friends Are Blues". The Guardian. No. Fri 11 January. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  22. ^ Shoemaker, Bill (2019). "Dizzy Reece: Mosaic Select 11: Dizzy Reece". JazzTimes. No. 25 April. Madavor Media, LLC. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  23. ^ a b c Cunniffe, Thomas (2019). "Re-Discovering Tubby Hayes". Jazz History Online. JazzHistoryOnline.com. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  24. ^ Ansell, Derek (2020). "Tubby Hayes: The Fontana Albums (1961-1969)". Jazz Journal. No. 6 April. Jazz Journal. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  25. ^ Kelly, Martin (2020). "Tubby Hayes 'The Complete Fontana Albums (1961-1969) 11 LP/13 CD Box Set (Decca) 5/5". UK Vibe. No. 16 January. UK Vibe. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  26. hdl:10179/1419
    . Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  27. ^ "Lucky Thompson to Play Scott's". Jazz News. 6 (18): 3. 1962. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  28. ^ Myers, Marc. "Tubby Hayes + Paul Gonsalves". JazzWax. [JazzWax]. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  29. ^ Discogs (2023). "The Harry South Big Band – Presenting". Discogs. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  30. ^
    ISBN 9781781795057
    . Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  31. ^ Spillett, Simon (2021). "Hip! Tubby Hayes' 1965". Simon Spillett. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  32. ^ Little, Patrick (2015). "Music In A Doll's House". Family Bandstand. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  33. ^ Myers, Marc (2021). "Brubeck and Mingus in 'All Night Long' (1962)". JazzWax. Marc Myers. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  34. ^ IMDb. "A King in New York (1957): Full Cast and Crew". IMDb. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  35. ^ IMDb. "The Beauty Jungle (1964) Poster The Beauty Jungle (1964) : Full Cast and Crew". IMDb. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  36. ^ Lewellen, Ryan (2016). "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors: Whatever Of Doom!". Cinapse. No. 13 February. Cinapse. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  37. ^ Mirrorpix. "Tubby Hayes". Getty Images.
  38. ^ "'Tubby' Hayes sought aid on drug-taking". The Times. No. Thursday, 12 Sept. Times Newspapers Limited. 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  39. ^ "Tubby Hayes..." British modern jazz - from the 1940s onwards... 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  40. ^ Discogs (28 September 1998). "Tubby Hayes Quartet In Scandinavia". Discogs. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  41. ^ Holmes, Jason (2015). "Tubby Hayes: When Fans Remember a British Jazz Legend". Huffington Post. No. 14 May. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  42. ^ Avid Recordings Publicity
  43. ^ Williams, Richard (2015). "The best music books of 2015". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  44. ^ Spillett, Simon (2023). "Writing". Simon Spillett. simonspillett.com. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  45. ^ Mono Media Films. "Tubby Hayes – A Man in a Hurry". Mono Media Films. Mono Media Films London Limited. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  46. ^ Worpole, Ken (2016). "Tubby Hayes: A Man In A Hurry". Caught By The River. Caught By The River. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  47. ^ Waring, Charles (2015). "A Man In A Hurry | Tubby Hayes". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 15 February 2023.

Bibliography

External links
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