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The Bebop Shop : A Swingin' Affair: Blue Notes & Hard Bop Classics : The Jazz Couriers: Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott

Tubby Hayes: Without A Song - Rare Live Recordings 1954-73 (CD: Acrobat, 3 CDs)Tubby Hayes: Without A Song - Rare Live Recordings 1954-73 (CD: Acrobat, 3 CDs)
Featuring 22 previously unissued live tracks, this new 3-CD anthology is the ultimate celebration of the genius of the late, great Tubby Hayes, tracing his meteoric career from teenage wunderkind to youthful veteran. Heard on all four of his principal instruments – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute and vibes - as well as leading a series of quartets, quintets and big bands, Hayes is also featured in ultra-rare collaborations with leading British jazz figures including Joe Harriott, Tommy Whittle, Stan Tracey, John Dankworth and Tony Lee, many of whom he worked with only rarely. The collection includes new versions of Hayes’ classic compositions like “100% Proof” and “Off The Wagon”, alongside items which don’t appear anywhere else in his studio-recorded discography. Recorded in clubs throughout the UK and at festivals, rehearsals and informal private jam sessions, this release also contains a comprehensive booklet essay by noted Hayes authority and award-winning saxophonist Simon Spillett, together with rare memorabilia and press cuttings from the period. This is Tubby Hayes as you’ve never heard him before! (Acrobat Music) 


Price:  £16.99 


Tubby Hayes: The Complete Tempo Recordings 1955-1959 (CD: Acrobat, 6 CDs)
Tubby Hayes may well have died close to forty years ago, but he remains a towering figure in the annals of British modern jazz. Newly discovered recordings still create something of a stir, whilst repackaging of his existing catalogue continues apace. However, until now, there has been one glaringly obvious oversight among the reissues; a complete and comprehensive coverage of the early sessions made by this legendary figure for Tempo records. This 6CD set puts that situation right, bringing together every recording made with the A&R guidance of Tempo’s Tony Hall during a hectic four year period which saw his technique evolve as he recorded these 86 tracks with hand-picked groups comprising the best British modern jazz musicians of the time.

It includes the recordings with the original ground-breaking Tubby Hayes Orchestra, and, of course, the startling performances of the Jazz Couriers, maybe the best British modern jazz combo of the all, along with Ronnie Scott. In addition, there are the experimental solo recordings, as he overdubbed all the instruments, and the London Jazz Quartet material, originally conceived as film and TV background music.

It’s a fascinating medium, also, through which to follow the development of the mercurial technique of an artist who was young enough to approach bebop free of the background that most of his fellow musicians had been obliged to live through during the dance band era. Already a huge talent when this set begins, his style and ability were constantly evolving through the Tempo era. It includes a 6000-word booklet by noted jazz writer and musician Simon Spillett, who also compiled the anthology. It is a must for every Tubby Hayes fan and indeed all aficionados of British modern jazz. (Discovery Records) 


Price:  £22.99 

Tubby Hayes: The Complete Tempo Recordings 1955-1959 (CD: Acrobat, 6 CDs)


Tubby Hayes: The Little Giant (CD: Proper, 4 CDs)Tubby Hayes: The Little Giant (CD: Proper, 4 CDs)
The death of Tubby Hayes in June 1973 brought to a close one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of British jazz. Tubby's multi-talented abilities as a saxophonist, vibraphonist, flautist, composer, arranger and bandleader had been central to the trajectory of jazz in the United Kingdom for close to twenty years. As more than one musician associated with Hayes noted at the time, his death left an almost improbably large gap within a jazz scene which, if robust enough to carry on without him by the early 1970s, was still nevertheless relatively contained.

Only a few years before, the very notion of British jazzmen holding their own at an international level would have been all but risible; yet by the close of the 1960s the news that guitarist John McLaughlin and bassist Dave Holland were being headhunted by Miles Davis was greeted not by surprise, but with a certain amount of jingoistic pride. No one musician had done more to raise the game of the local performers in the preceding decade than Tubby Hayes; his story was as much about the personal cost of his dedication to musical excellence as it was his overcoming the inertia of his surroundings; his story remains one of lasting impact. (Proper Records) 


Price:  £16.99 


Tubby Hayes: Little Giant Steps (CD: Proper, 4 CDs)
Following on from Tubby Hayes - The Little Giant (Properbox 117) this new volume moves the story forward to the dawn of the 1960s and covers the period when Tubby went from a strictly local phenomenon to an international jazz contender.

This massive 4CD set showcases his quartet, quintet and big band, together with two US-recorded albums made with Clark Terry, James Moody and Roland Kirk. Over 44 tracks, Hayes is heard both live and in the studio, playing a repertoire comprising his own compositions and those of his idols including Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. (Proper Music) 


Price:  £16.99 

Tubby Hayes: Little Giant Steps (CD: Proper, 4 CDs)


Tubby Hayes: Blue Hayes (CD: Jasmine, 2 CDs)Tubby Hayes: Blue Hayes (CD: Jasmine, 2 CDs)
A terrific overview of Hayes' classic Tempo recordings and includes a previously unissued big band session from 1969.  


Price:  £12.99 


Tubby Hayes: Three Classic Albums Plus (CD: AVID, 2 CDs)
AVID Jazz here presents three classic Tubby Hayes albums "The Jazz Couriers - In Concert", "The Couriers Of Jazz", "Tubby’s Groove" plus four tracks from "Pub Crawling with Jimmy Deuchar".

Hailed as "England’s greatest jazz combo", Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes formed the Couriers to bring their message to the world that British jazz was alive and kicking! Joined by Terry Shannon on piano, Phil Bates on bass and Bill Eyden on drums we find them on a double bill with Dave Brubeck live at the Dominion Theatre in early February 1958. Wearing their influences on their sleeves, Brubeck was heard to declare "They sound more like an American band than we do". Moving ahead to November 1958 and the Couriers had been joined by Jeff Clyne on bass for a recording in London which clearly shows how British jazz was beginning to take it to their American cousins! For "Tubby’s Groove", Tubs steps out from the Couriers for the first time but is in familiar company with Shannon and Clyne and joining them on drums, the legendary and phenomenal Phil Seamen! Completed by four classic sides featuring the hard hitting, searing sound of Tubby’s tenor alongside trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar from "Pub Crawling" where the band pay tribute to the fine art of beer drinking! All three albums plus, have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest sound quality ever! (AVID Entertainment) 


Price:  £8.99 

Tubby Hayes: Three Classic Albums Plus (CD: AVID, 2 CDs)


Tubby Hayes: Jazz Genius- The Flamingo Era (CD: Fantastic Voyage, 3 CDs)Tubby Hayes: Jazz Genius- The Flamingo Era (CD: Fantastic Voyage, 3 CDs)
‘Jazz Genius’ compiles four albums recorded between 1957 and 1961, plus bonus tracks, and contains over three hours of world-class modern jazz from the best-known and best-loved British jazzman of his generation, Tubby Hayes. It includes two remastered LPs by the legendary Jazz Couriers (featuring the twin-tenor attack of Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott) : “The Jazz Couriers” (1957) and “In Concert” (1958) with restored introductions for the first time on CD.

Hayes’ mastery of vibes, flute and alto sax are showcased on the rare “London Jazz Quartet” LP (1959) - here in its entirety - plus “An Evening With Tony Kinsey” (1961) teaming four of the UK’s greatest jazz musicians – Hayes, Kinsey, Bill Le Sage and Jimmy Deuchar. The compilation also dips into the Jazz At The Flamingo album for the two tracks on which Hayes sits in with the Tony Crombie Quintet, and rounds up a couple of studio sides, again with Crombie.

With comprehensive and informative sleeve notes, this is an essential purchase for the many devotees of the exciting late-’50s / early-’60s era when the UK modern jazz scene (with Hayes at the helm) became world-renowned via Soho’s jazz hotspots, The Flamingo and Ronnie Scott’s. (Discovery Records) 


Price:  £12.99 


Ronnie Scott & Tubby Hayes: The Couriers Of Jazz (CD: Carlton/ Fresh Sound)
with Terry Shannon (piano), Jeff Clyne (bass) & Bill Eyden (drums). Recorded in London, 1958. 


Price:  £17.99 

Ronnie Scott & Tubby Hayes: The Couriers Of Jazz (CD: Carlton/ Fresh Sound)


Tubby Hayes: The Swinging Giant Vol.1 (CD: Jasmine)Tubby Hayes: The Swinging Giant Vol.1 (CD: Jasmine)
Undoubtedly one of Britain’s internationally best known Jazz musicians, Edward ‘Tubby’ Hayes was born in 1935 and first learnt violin as a child before switching to tenor sax at the age of twelve. He began playing in Jazz clubs at fourteen and by sixteen was a ‘professional’ with Kenny Baker’s Sextet. Acquiring the nick-name ‘The Little Giant’, in 1955 he set out on a solo career with the start of his own band. The JASMINE CD presented here features all of his TEMPO recordings from four sessions in 1955, either fronting a quartet or an eight piece orchestra, and makes available for the first time in over 30 years some priceless gems of Modern Jazz. (Jasmine Records) 


Price:  £11.99 


Tubby Hayes: The Swinging Giant Vol.2 (CD: Jasmine)
No surprise that this new JASMINE compilation carries on from where Volume One left off. Featuring one of Britain’s internationally best known Jazz musicians, Edward ‘Tubby’ Hayes, Volume Two includes two complete TEMPO sessions, one from July 1956, the other from August 1957. The second session finds Hayes teaming up with that other British Jazz giant, Ronnie Scott, in what was to be the first of several sessions. As with all these JASMINE issues, superbly re-mastered great Jazz which has not been available for many years, 65 plus minutes. (Jasmine Records) 


Price:  £11.99 

Tubby Hayes: The Swinging Giant Vol.2 (CD: Jasmine)


Tubby Hayes: The Eighth Wonder (CD: Jasmine)Tubby Hayes: The Eighth Wonder (CD: Jasmine)
 


Price:  £11.99 


Tubby Hayes, Jimmy Skidmore, Vic Ash etc: Modern Jazz In London 1957 (CD: Acrobat)
Rare and previously unreleased live recording from the creative hotbed that was the British post-war modern jazz scene, featuring a 1957 concert with a fluid line-up of some of the U.K.'s top jazzmen. This was one of several shows in London modelled on Norman Grantz’s "Jazz at the Philharmonic" series. Includes the first recorded performance of Tubby Hayes on vibes, a key moment in the evolution of British jazz in the ‘50s. (Discovery Records) 


Price:  £11.99 

Tubby Hayes, Jimmy Skidmore, Vic Ash etc: Modern Jazz In London 1957 (CD: Acrobat)


Tubby Hayes: New Edition - Rare Radio Recordings 1958-62 (CD: Acrobat, 2 CDs)Tubby Hayes: New Edition - Rare Radio Recordings 1958-62 (CD: Acrobat, 2 CDs)
Throughout his all-too-short career, radio broadcast appearances formed a major part of the workload of the legendary saxophonist Tubby Hayes. Barely a month went by without Hayes featuring on the airwaves and this unique collection – assembled to mark the 40th anniversary of his untimely death – contains highlights from his peak years, the late 1950s and early 1960s. Hayes is heard co-leading the famous Jazz Couriers with fellow saxophonist Ronnie Scott and heading his own quartets and quintets including the cream of British jazz. He also featured as a member of the one-off all-star Jimmy Deuchar big band and makes a rare guest appearance with the John Dankworth Orchestra. Featured players include Gordon Beck, Victor Feldman, Allan Ganley, Dizzy Reece, Ronnie Ross and Stan Tracey. Hayes is also heard during his 1962 visit to the America – in blistering form at the Washington Jazz Festival – the only existing live recording of him on US soil. With previously unreleased material – much of which Hayes never recorded elsewhere - and a comprehensive booklet essay by noted saxophonist and writer Simon Spillett, this new collection is the ultimate celebration of a much-missed genius. (Acrobat Music) 


Price:  £12.99 


Tubby Hayes & The Downbeat Big Band: Blues At The Manor 1959-1960 (CD: Acrobat)
Two previously unreleased sessions from 1959/60 – a key document of British jazz history. The Downbeat Big Band, headed by Tubby Hayes, with among its personnel a host of top British modern jazz stars such as Ronnie Scott, Jimmy Deuchar and Phil Seamen, was the finest unit of its kind but thought to have left no recordings in its wake so this release marks a significant discovery. The first session was recorded under studio conditions at Ronnie Scott’s club and the second was the band’s sole broadcast appearance (Victor Feldman guests).

Complete with detailed booklet, rare photographs, press clippings etc this is an un-missable treat for enthusiasts of British modern jazz. (Discovery Records) 


Special Offer Price  £10.99 

Tubby Hayes & The Downbeat Big Band: Blues At The Manor 1959-1960 (CD: Acrobat)


Tubby Hayes: The Long Shadow Of The Little Giant (CD: Acrobat)Tubby Hayes: The Long Shadow Of The Little Giant (CD: Acrobat)
A retrospective CD compilation celebrating the greatest British jazz musician of them all – tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes.  


Price:  £11.99 


Tubby Hayes: Boppin' And Hoppin' (CD: Jasmine)
Released alongside the fantastic 'London Pride' - JASCD 689, here we have another tremendous Tubby Hayes CD. This time we focus on his mythically rare session from 1960.

The thirteen tracks on offer here were composed by and feature British jazz and rock and roll legend Tony Crombie and includes an extra track that was not included on the original album.

Wonderfully remastered and with extensive notes by Simon Spillett this is a great and entertaining sidebar to the main development of Britain's Legendary modern jazz icon. (Jasmine Records) 


Price:  £11.99 

Tubby Hayes: Boppin' And Hoppin' (CD: Jasmine)


Tubby Hayes: London Pride (CD: Jasmine)Tubby Hayes: London Pride (CD: Jasmine)
Tubby Hayes is Britain's now legendary modern jazz icon and here we offer 23 rare tracks covering the period from 1957 to 1960, 12 of which making their first appearance on CD. Features British jazz giants, Ronnie Scott, Tony Crombie, Eddie Thompson and more! Over 78 minutes playing time with extensive booklet notes by leading Hayes expert Simon Spillet. (Jasmine Records) 


Price:  £11.99 


Tubby Hayes: Tubby the Tenor + Tubby's Back in Town + Boston '64 (CD: Fresh Sound, 2 CDs)
The arrival of English tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes in New York during the autumn of 1961 caused a sensation in American jazz circles. The first British jazz soloist to ever make a guest appearance in a US club, his opening night at the Half Note was attended by figures including Miles Davis, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, with Metronome describing Hayes as a “swinging ambassador from Britain who definitely can hold his own in fast company”. At the end of his visit Hayes recorded the album “Tubby The Tenor” for Epic Records, leading an all-star unit including trumpeter Clark Terry and vibraphonist Eddie Costa.

When he returned to even greater acclaim in June 1962, to play a further season at New York’s Half Note club, Mercury Records producer Quincy Jones took the opportunity to record Hayes in the company of the Walter Bishop Jr. trio and guest saxophonists Roland Kirk and James Moody, resulting in the Smash album “Tubby’s Back In Town.” The record received a 4 and a half star review in DownBeat, with journalist Harvey Pekar declaring Hayes’ performance proof that he was “capable of giving many well-regarded US tenor players a run for their money.”

This release includes both the Epic and Smash albums and adds a previously unreleased recording of Hayes made with pianist Ray Santisi’s trio in Boston in 1964. It also comes complete with an overview essay by Hayes’ biographer and fellow saxophonist Simon Spillett. (Fresh Sound Records) 


Price:  £25.99 

Tubby Hayes: Tubby the Tenor + Tubby's Back in Town + Boston '64 (CD: Fresh Sound, 2 CDs)


Tubby Hayes: Tubby The Tenor (Vinyl LP: Wax Time)Tubby Hayes: Tubby The Tenor (Vinyl LP: Wax Time)
One of the best-known of all British saxophonists, Tubby Hayes was invited in 1961 to play at the Half Note Club in New York. While in America, he recorded this brilliant LP with Clark Terry, Eddie Costa, and Horace Parlan. This album is released with the added bonus of two tracks from the same session not included on the original LP.

Limited edition 180g audiophile vinyl, with 2 bonus tracks. (Proper Music) 


Price:  £22.99 


Tubby Hayes: England's Late Jazz Great (CD: IAJRC- US Import)
This is a fantastic CD culled from broadcasts between 1957 and 1972, with Tubby's Quartet, Quintet, Jazz Couriers, Big Band plus Tony Kinsey Trio and Harry South's band. If you are a fan of Hayes' this is a must. 


Price:  £14.99 

Tubby Hayes: England's Late Jazz Great (CD: IAJRC- US Import)


Tubby Hayes: Commonwealth Blues (CD: Art Of Life- US Import)Tubby Hayes: Commonwealth Blues (CD: Art Of Life- US Import)
The complete unedited and previously unreleased 1965 BBC transcription recordings. With Gordon Beck, Johnny Butts & Jeff Clyne. A must-have for Tubbs' fans. 


Price:  £17.99 


Tubby Hayes: Intensity- The 1965 Tapes (CD: Tentoten)
This newly discovered session, which has lain hidden for over 40 years, features multi-instrumentalist Tubby Hayes, one of Britain’s greatest jazz musicians. Recorded at Ronnie Scott’s club in Gerrard Street in 1965, Hayes fronts a quartet featuring Terry Shannon on piano, bassist Jeff Clyne and drummer Benny Goodman. The three lengthy performances represent a typical mid-Sixties Hayes set, featuring Hayes’s typical extended soloing on tenor saxophone and flute. (New Note) 


Price:  £13.99 

Tubby Hayes: Intensity- The 1965 Tapes (CD: Tentoten)


Tubby Hayes: Hip! The Untold Story Of Tubby Hayes 1965 (CD: Rhythm & Blues, 2 CDs)Tubby Hayes: Hip! The Untold Story Of Tubby Hayes 1965 (CD: Rhythm & Blues, 2 CDs)
In the high-profile, microscopically documented career of British jazz icon Tubby Hayes, 1965 appears the ‘year that never was’; no new Hayes’ LP appeared and for the first time in a decade the charismatic saxophonist no longer headed his own regular band. What was more, various critics had begun to openly wonder if his day had passed, dismissing Hayes’ powerful playing as ‘static’, ‘overlong’ and ‘blasé’. Combined with what was his most personally traumatic time to date, its trials ranging from physical collapse to escalating addictions, it appeared as if this once ubiquitous jazz force was fading from sight.

On live performances, however, it was a different story, Hayes galvanising his already formidable mastery of Hard Bop with a new found appetite for the work of John Coltrane as well as further sharpening his natural command of composition and arrangement. Fortunately, radio broadcasts documented these obsessions in full; BBC recordings from this year capturing both his informal quartet and his star-packed Commonwealth Big Band. This release includes three previously unreleased programmes in full, containing versions of classic Hayes’ themes ‘Change of Setting’ and ‘Don’t Fall Off The Bridge’ together with the first-ever UK performance of his big band showcase ‘100% Proof.’ Hayes’ then partner, US vocalist Joy Marshall, makes a cameo appearance here. An unmissable treat for all fans of vintage British modern jazz! Features an extensive booklet essay by Hayes’ biographer Simon Spillett. (Rhythm & Blues Records) 


Price:  £16.99 


Tubby Hayes Quartet: Addictive Tendencies (CD: Rare Music, 2 CDs)
First time release of the 1966 live recording from Tony Levin's orginal analogue tapes. 


Price:  £18.99 

Tubby Hayes Quartet: Addictive Tendencies (CD: Rare Music, 2 CDs)


Tubby Hayes: Portrait (CD: Ember)Tubby Hayes: Portrait (CD: Ember)
featuring Tubby with The Jazz Couriers, in August 1957, with Tony Crombie in May, 1959, & with Tony Kinsey in September, 1961. 


Price:  £11.99 


Tubby Hayes Quartet: A Little Workout - 'Live' At The Little Theatre (CD: Acrobat)
When the Tubby Hayes and his new quartet alighted on the Little Theatre in Rochester, Kent for two evenings' worth of performances during the winter/spring of 1966/67 both the leader and the band’s music were in a period of transition.

Drawing equal inspiration from both the recent innovations of Miles Davis and John Coltrane and the energy of his new, young and adventurous sidemen, Hayes was to turn these to-all-intents-and-purposes typical provincial club nights into definitive manifesto statements of his contemporary musical ambitions.

Luckily, excerpts from both these performances were captured on tape. Occasionally bootlegged, the recordings made on these two gigs half a century ago illustrate everything the saxophonist had learned, experienced and pioneered up to that moment; from the blistering paint-off-the-walls bebop of “Walkin’”, a solo to rank alongside any of John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins’ extended forays from the Sixties, through to the astonishing emotional denouement of a seventeen-minute deconstruction of “Dear Johnny B.” - this isn't Hayes merely on form; this is him on fire!

This new Acrobat CD is the first ever release of these recordings and comes packaged with rare, hitherto unpublished photographs and a fascinating booklet note by award-winning saxophonist Simon Spillett – author of The Long Shadow of The Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes. (Discovery Records) 


Price:  £11.99 

Tubby Hayes Quartet: A Little Workout - 'Live' At The Little Theatre (CD: Acrobat)


Tubby Hayes Quartet: For Members Only (CD: Miles Music)Tubby Hayes Quartet: For Members Only (CD: Miles Music)
Live in London, 1967 with Mick Pyne (piano), Ron Mathewson (bass) & Tony Levin (drums). Includes an interview with Humphrey Lyttleton and sleeve notes by Peter King. 


Price:  £13.99 


Tubby Hayes & Tony Coe: Jazz Tete A Tete (CD: Progressive)
Featuring the Tubby Hayes with the Les Condon Quartet, the Tony Coe Quintet, and the Frank Evans Trio. Recorded at Bristol University, November 1966. 


Price:  £13.99 

Tubby Hayes & Tony Coe: Jazz Tete A Tete (CD: Progressive)


Tubby Hayes: Mexican Green (CD: Fontana/ Universal)Tubby Hayes: Mexican Green (CD: Fontana/ Universal)
 


Price:  £9.99 


Tubby Hayes Quartet: Grits, Beans And Greens - The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969 (CD: Fontana)
Newly discovered studio album From legendary British jazz star Tubby Hayes. Thought to be either lost or destroyed until their recent rediscovery, the sessions are being hailed as among the very best work in the Hayes discography. "Sometimes when tapes than have been lost or rumoured to exist finally surface there is a touch of anti-climax or the need to 'spin' them in a way that makes them more important than they are" explains Hayes' biographer and award-winning British jazz saxophonist Simon Spillett. "These sessions, on the other hand, are absolute classics in every regard. It's an album that can sit equally alongside the best Coltrane, Rollins or Dexter Gordon LPs. It really is a lost masterpiece, make no mistake."

At the time the 'Grits, Beans and Greens' sessions were recorded, Hayes was also working on a more commercial project, 'The Orchestra', which found him aiming for the pop and easy-listening markets by covering The Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Nancy Sinatra. Ironically, sales of 'The Orchestra' were poor by the standards of his previous albums and as Hayes' health began to falter in the early 1970s, no further recordings took place, leaving the 'Grits, Beans and Greens' reels forgotten and unreleased. After his tragic death following open-heart surgery, aged just 38, in 1973, the tapes were simply filed away, eventually becoming mislaid as the label's archives went through a series of corporate buy-outs.

The tapes were discovered when the late jazz writer and Polygram Catalogue Manager Richard Cook came across Hayes' diary and noticed entries detailing a number of recording sessions. He subsequently trawled through the Polygram archives and made what was to be one of the most significant discoveries in jazz history when he came across the never-before-heard 1969 tapes. Cook left the company before the tapes were released and it wasn't until last year that knowledge of their existence resurfaced.

The audio have also gone through MQA [Master Quality Authenticated] technology, MQA-CD plays back on all CD players. When a conventional CD player is connected to an MQA-enabled device, the CD will reveal the original master quality. (Universal Music) 


Price:  £13.99 

Tubby Hayes Quartet: Grits, Beans And Greens - The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969 (CD: Fontana)


Tubby Hayes Quartet: Grits, Beans And Greens - The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969 - Deluxe Edition (CD: Fontana, 2 CDs)Tubby Hayes Quartet: Grits, Beans And Greens - The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969 - Deluxe Edition (CD: Fontana, 2 CDs)
Two-CD deluxe edition complete with 18 tracks, in date & master tape running order which includes studio chatter, alternative takes and false starts.  


Price:  £17.99 


Tubby Hayes Quartet: Grits, Beans And Greens - The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969 (Vinyl LP: Fontana)
Upon discovery of the tapes, Decca hired high-end vinyl specialists Gearbox Studios to master the sessions for the first time. They created a 180-gram vinyl edition employing an original 1960s-era Studer C37 tape machine and a Scully Lathe (the same model employed by jazz record engineering god Rudy Van Gelder). (Universal Music) 


Price:  £24.99 

Tubby Hayes Quartet: Grits, Beans And Greens - The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969 (Vinyl LP: Fontana)


Tubby Hayes: What Is This Thing Called Love? - Live at The Hopbine 1969 (Vinyl LP: Acrobat)Tubby Hayes: What Is This Thing Called Love? - Live at The Hopbine 1969 (Vinyl LP: Acrobat)
This is the first vinyl LP release from the Acrobat label, and it features, appropriately, a recording from the vinyl era which has long been unavailable since its 1986 LP release. It is a ‘live’ recording from 1969 by one of the greatest of all British jazzmen, tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes, performing at one of London’s most popular jazz venues, the Hopbine pub in Wembley, where Tubby’s fellow tenor player Tommy Whittle used to run a weekly jazz night. He was playing there with his regular quartet comprising Mike Pyne (piano); Ron Mathewson (bass); Spike Wells (drums), and the LP features two extended pieces, one on each side of the LP.

After hitting a career low point in 1968 as a result of his heroin addiction, he was rebuilding his health and career and had thrown himself into a punishing round of ‘live’ work and recording, and was looking for new musical challenges, as the music landscape was evolving rapidly around him, and contemporary musicians were pushing boundaries of their own with psychedelia and progressive rock. He was still in vibrant form and still a master of the kind of hard bop tear-up exhibited in parts of these performances, and still able top find a new way of approaching a standard like “What Is This Thing Called Love?”, as well as introduce his own compositions like “For Members Only”. However, this was one of the final performances of this kind by the quartet, as it was only a month later that he collapsed was hospitalised – the beginning of the health issues which would bring about his demise in 1973. As such it is an important musical landmark, as he saw out the ‘60s in typical style. (Acrobat Music) 


Price:  £19.99 


Tubby Hayes: Symphony- The Lost Session (CD: Acrobat)
January 30th 2105 marks the anniversary of what would have been Tubby Hayes’ 80th birthday. Undoubtedly THE ultimate British jazz legend, Hayes’ untimely death, aged 38, in 1973 ended what had been a truly remarkable 23 year career, and, although long gone, his musical example still continues to inspire and amaze today.

Released to mark this special anniversary, this new Acrobat album presents a PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED session recorded in early 1972, which has only recently been rediscovered. On what was one of his first post-surgery gigs, Hayes is heard alongside the Tony Lee Trio, then one of the busiest accompanying units on the London jazz scene, playing with the drive, taste and maturity that came from a lifetime’s dedication to the art of jazz improvisation. Indeed, those who remember the impact of hearing Hayes in-person will find more than a hint of nostalgia in this performance. The recording also calls into question some of the critical wisdom that has surrounded the music Hayes made during his final years. Far from being a spent force, ravaged by ill-health and forced to make debilitating compromises, as some jazz histories would have him during this “comeback” period, he sounds in imperious form throughout, whether barrelling through a blues or caressing a ballad.

This atmospheric release has been newly remastered from the original tape source to gain the best possible sound and comes complete with rare photographs, press cuttings and a detailed booklet essay by award-winning saxophonist and Hayes’ biographer Simon Spillett. (Acrobat Music) 


Price:  £11.99 

Tubby Hayes: Symphony- The Lost Session (CD: Acrobat)


Tubby Hayes: Quartet In Scandinavia (CD: Storyville)Tubby Hayes: Quartet In Scandinavia (CD: Storyville)
2023 repress of this recording of the great Tubby Hayes live at "Guldhattan", Stockholm, Sweden, February 18, 1972, which was originally released by Storyville in 1998. 


Price:  £13.99 


Tubby Hayes Quartet: Invitation - Live at The Top Alex 1973 (CD: Acrobat)
The United Kingdom, March 1973: Pink Floyd release ‘Dark Side of The Moon’: the provisional IRA detonate bombs at Whitehall and The Old Bailey; and saxophonist Tubby Hayes and his quartet perform one of their final engagements outside of London, taking to the stage of the Top Alex, Southend-on-Sea, as part of the pub's regular jazz presentations.

To Hayes and his band, who'd been together as a unit for over three years, it was hardly a gig to raise eyebrows; a typical, jazz club blow in a suburban pub backroom, the very thing that the saxophonist had begun his career doing twenty-three years earlier. But now, Hayes was no longer a star ascendant, or operating like the jazz dynamo he'd been in his mid-1960s heyday. He was, quite literally, running out of time. Three months after the Top Alex appearance, he was dead, aged just 38, finally halted by the heart problems that had plagued his final years.

While the press obituaries rightly accorded Hayes his deserved position as one of Britain's greatest ever jazz talents, they also noted the cruel irony that he and his band hadn't entered a recording studio since 1969. Indeed, how the Tubby Hayes Quartet - a group which one obituarist compared to the identical line-up led by John Coltrane – sounded in its final years became something of a mystery.

The discovery of privately recorded tapes of the Top Alex performance, issued for the first time on this Acrobat release, provides not only a valedictory souvenir of the quartet in its final phase, but also a lesson in its leader’s still deepening musical maturity; close to the end, Hayes draws on everything he'd learned, experienced and pioneered to date, as well as revealing clues as to where his music might have headed next.

Packaged with rare photographs and memorabilia from the night itself, featuring reminiscences by band member Spike Wells, and others who witnessed the gig, and including an in-depth booklet note by Hayes' biographer, saxophonist Simon Spillett, this album is a final, melancholy reminder of a truly gigantic musical legend. (Discovery Records) 


Price:  £11.99 

Tubby Hayes Quartet: Invitation - Live at The Top Alex 1973 (CD: Acrobat)


Ronnie Scott: Soho Blues - The Ronnie Scott Anthology 1956-62 (CD: Acrobat, 2 CDs)Ronnie Scott: Soho Blues - The Ronnie Scott Anthology 1956-62 (CD: Acrobat, 2 CDs)
Before he opened his famous club Ronnie Scott had already carved a formidable reputation as one of the U.K.'s finest jazz musicians but his natural diffidence meant that recorded appearances were few and far between. This two CD set redresses the balance and includes all the albums that were recorded in his own name between 1956 and ‘61 together with a selection of featured recordings under the leadership of others. The majority of these tracks have never appeared on CD before. (Discovery Records) 


Price:  £12.99 


Ronnie Scott: Fast & Loose- Live In 1954 (CD: Acrobat)
By 1954, the famous Ronnie Scott nine-piece was not only approximately half-way through its two and a half year lifespan, but it was arguably at its peak. Formed early the previous year, and led by indisputably the most charismatic figure in British modern jazz, the band’s stock-in-trade was controversy – daring to include as much modern jazz as it could on the dance hall circuit. Its co-operative policy was described by one of its members, the saxophonist Benny Green, as “syncopated Marxism”, whilst its on-the-road antics prompted the group’s drummer Tony Crombie to remember the unit’s band bus as “a madhouse on wheels”. Nevertheless, packed full of the brightest parochial talent, including trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar and alto saxophonist Derek Humble, the band was among the most consistently musical of its generation and could sunder any opposition. The addition of multi-instrumental wunderkind Victor Feldman during 1954 only added to the groups varied talents. The band’ s BBC Overseas Service broadcast of March 17th 1954 followed the pattern of two previous appearances on the airwaves by being pressed and released by Esquire Records under the prophetic title of The Ronnie Scott Jazz Club Vol.3 and yet despite its excellent and diverse content it was soon deleted, quickly becoming a highly prized collector’s item. This Acrobat release includes not only all of the original LP but adds a further session recorded a month later by Scott and the band’s rhythm section, which features three performances that are previously unissued. Complete with rare photos, press clippings and an extensive booklet essay by saxophonist Simon Spillett, this release is an absolute must for fans of British modern jazz. (Acrobat Music) 


Price:  £11.99 

Ronnie Scott: Fast & Loose- Live In 1954 (CD: Acrobat)


Ronnie Scott: Boppin' With Scott (CD: Proper, 4 CDs)Ronnie Scott: Boppin' With Scott (CD: Proper, 4 CDs)
Ronnie Scott will long be remembered as the co-owner of the club that carries his name, a jazz venue that became renowned throughout the world for the excellence of its setting and the artists on display. Scott was a club proprietor extraordinaire, distinguished for his entrepreneurial courage and artistic vision. He also was a stand-up comedian who could rival anyone on his best nights, of which there were plenty. Ronnie’s prominence as a club owner tended to obscure the fact that he was a world-class tenor saxophonist, whose tone and affinity for the blues recall that other superb white tenorist Zoot Sims, although Ronnie’s phrasing and attack were closer to Sonny Rollins, one of Scott's idols with whom he played on many occasions. Ronnie Scott was also a tireless promoter of fine British musicians, utterly committed to jazz all his life. This 81 track box set focuses on Ronnie's first ten years as a professional musician when he was accompanied by the cream of British jazz at the time. Contains six tracks not available since the days of the 78. (Proper Records) 


Price:  £16.99 


Ronnie Scott: Boppin' At The Esquire (CD: Indigo)
 


Price:  £7.99 

Ronnie Scott: Boppin' At The Esquire (CD: Indigo)


Ronnie Scott Quartet: BBC Jazz Club Sessions 1964-1966 (CD: Rhythm & Blues)Ronnie Scott Quartet: BBC Jazz Club Sessions 1964-1966 (CD: Rhythm & Blues)
Everyone knows that the 1960s, the decade in which London swung as never before, were the Golden Era of Ronnie Scott’s club, the tiny bolthole of a basement that had swiftly gone from a strictly parochial phenomenon to an international marker on the jazz map. What’s less well-known, largely thanks to his own diffidence about recording, is that this was also the time in which Scott the player hit his peak.

These previously unreleased sessions from 1964-66 find him helming his own quartet – a band praised by critics of the time as a ‘powerful combo’ creating ‘full-blooded, exciting’ jazz – in three distinct t settings; live in Manchester (supporting jazz superstars the Dave Brubeck Quartet); in the studio; and accompanying a very special guest, the iconic American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. Rarely has Scott been heard to better advantage, his playing throughout these sets bringing his legend back to vivid, hard-swinging and passionately communicative life. (Rhythm & Blues Records) 


Price:  £12.99 


Ronnie Scott Trio: On A Clear Day - Live 1974 (CD: Acrobat)
The UK, 1974: the 3-Day Week, snap-general elections and Glam Rock: rocked as much by strikes and IRA bomb blasts as by Abba and Mud: where Sixties optimism was finally giving way to crisis-driven Seventies reality. The same could be said of Ronnie Scott that year too. Indeed, when he took to the stage of a pub in the backwaters of Wiltshire in spring 1974, a one-night stop on an exhaustive nationwide tour, he was in the midst of perhaps the most turbulent time of his life. Amid fractious personal relationships and an ongoing battle with depression, and surrounded by a jazz scene whose fabric had changed unrecognisably in a few short years, Scott remained one of the UK's great jazz catalysts – a central figure around whom much of what was considered newsworthy within the idiom still concentrated.

At 47, the saxophonist was no longer chasing the music’s cutting edge; instead he had forged a style very much his own, one which tipped its hat to many of the good and the great who'd graced his own Soho club, but which now boasted even greater authority, maturity and individuality than ever before. And, despite his off-stage tribulations, he was happy with his band, a rare instance of a Scott-led line-up lasting more than a few years.

Supported by organist Mike Carr and drummer Bobby Gein, he tore the roof off the White Hart, whose 'Jazz at The Icebox' presentations were a magnet for West Country jazz fans. Issued here for the first time, this recording captures Scott doing what he did best: playing no holds-barred jazz, minus the pressures that came from being a frontman for his own club, or acting as 'support act' to his many American guests.• As such, it reveals a Ronnie Scott rarely heard on record, an instrumentalist in full-flow, sounding relaxed yet forthright, and making a mockery of the notion that art must mirror life. Scott may have been sailing stormy waters elsewhere but On A Clear Day finds him at the eye of a creative hurricane. “Ronnie is one of our finest jazz musicians and saxophonists – period”, wrote one Melody Maker reviewer that same year, a declaration fully born out on this album. (DIscovery Records) 


Price:  £11.99 

Ronnie Scott Trio: On A Clear Day - Live 1974 (CD: Acrobat)


The Jazz Couriers: Some Of My Best Friends (CD: Ember)The Jazz Couriers: Some Of My Best Friends (CD: Ember)
 


Price:  £11.99 


The Jazz Couriers (featuring Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott): The First And Last Words (CD: Jasmine)
As the title suggests, this reissue combines The Jazz Couriers' first recordings from August 1957 with their very last sessions in June / July 1959, a real feast for Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott fans. Also included are the two incredibly rare titles, "Monk Was Here" and "Last Minute Blues", which were issued on a promotional "give-away" disc in 1958. Almost 66 minutes of Jazz heaven. (Jasmine Records) 


Price:  £11.99 

The Jazz Couriers (featuring Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott): The First And Last Words (CD: Jasmine)

The Bebop Shop : A Swingin' Affair: Blue Notes & Hard Bop Classics : The Jazz Couriers: Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott
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