TUBBY HAYES QUARTET - Grits, Bean & Greens: The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969
Decca
Tubby Hayes tenor; Mike Pyne piano; Spike Wells drums; Ron Mathewson bass
Recorded: Philips Studios, Stanhope Place, London, Tuesday June 24th, 1969 - 10.30am – 1.30pm
The existence of this ‘final’ album has been well trailed, anticipation has been great. Hayes is, after all, a key British improviser and it did seem unfair that his final studio album should have been ‘The Orchestra’, an album compromised, flaccid, unrepresentative of his work that went before.
The fifty-year-old recordings, now owned by Decca, are available in three formats: a five-track vinyl LP, a single CD equivalent and a bumper double deluxe CD that includes multiple takes from the two studio dates of 27 May 1969 and 24 June 1969.
Simon Spillett wrote briefly about the 1969 sessions that produced this album in his book ‘The Long Shadow of the Little Giant’. He wrote: ‘Several sessions in June and July, some bringing Mick Pyne back in yielded nothing that Hayes saw as useful as the resulting tapes have remained unreleased. “I’m sure if we heard them now, we’d like them.”Spike Wells says, “but Tubby just wasn’t happy with it at all.”’
Was Hayes right to dismiss the tracks or was Spike Wells correct? Simon Spillett who wrote the notes for the new albums and played a key role in getting the material issued is sure that Hayes was wrong. The album notes give the history of the loss and the discovery of the album. Spillett now feels that the music is an important part of Hayes’ legacy.
For guitarist Louis Stewart (not included on the 2 CD or LP) this was not a happy time. He was used in 1969 as a replacement for pianist Pyne. and there are bootlegs showing him playing happily with the quartet. You can hear him on the first three tracks of the deluxe CD.’Where Am I Going?’ Pyne plays on the tune on the main CD. Apparently, Louis Stewart was so nervous in the Philips studio at Stanhope Gate, Marble Arch that his efforts to calm his nerves increased the instability. Stewart and drummer Spike Wells had only been with Hayes for a few months and this was their first experience of a professional recording studio. Spike Wells on his website describes a steadily increasingly fraught session as Hayes grew irritated with Stewart.
The single five track CD, opens with ‘For Members Only’. The Hayes of old takes on the unusual structure of the piece which appears to breakdown before is starts again. Once it is underway, Hayes leans on and soars over the harmonic background played by Mike Pyne.
Ron Mathewson dominates ‘Grits, Beans and Greens’, his bass playing so assured , so rich, so certain and melodic. This is his track.
In the late sixties TV used to loot jazz theme for title sequences. ‘Rumpus’ could well serve like that. Hayes relished the theme and he roars off.
The playing of the ballad ‘You Know I Care’ is one of the surprises of the sessions. Ballad playing in the past always seemed as though it was to give the other musicians a break. Here, Hayes is restrained, not afraid of beauty. He explores the theme with tenderness, avoiding the mawkish. The final cadenza is perfect.
The Latin rhythm set by Spike Wells on ‘Where Am I Going?’ incites Hayes to fresh and unusual explorations.
Recently Spike Wells mused about these tracks: ‘All I can say is that we moved on and forgot about them. Now they have come to light, I am absolutely knocked out at the quality of the music. I think it fills an important gap in Tubby’s discography. Otherwise we would have nothing in the way of a high-quality studio session between early 1967 and his death in 1973.’
In films, we have feel-good movies. This is a feel-good album full of the joy and vitality of jazz, almost making you want to dance if only most of the tempos allowed it! Recorded with clarity and warmth fifty years ago, it is skillfully re-mastered by Gearbox.
This music was created at a time when jazz was changing, Coltrane had completed his explorations and reached places where few wanted to follow. Miles Davis was about to become electric. Hayes was showing the more conventional approach still had life and many more avenues to search.
There have been a number of lost and found sessions in recent times. Sometimes recordings are lost because there was little in them, just routine. Very rarely, ‘found’ sessions contain material that will cause us to wonder and reassess. This find will not cause us to re-evaluate Hayes, but it will provide a great ending to an important life in music and underlines that Hayes’ early death was a grievous loss to jazz.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Decca
Tubby Hayes tenor; Mike Pyne piano; Spike Wells drums; Ron Mathewson bass
Recorded: Philips Studios, Stanhope Place, London, Tuesday June 24th, 1969 - 10.30am – 1.30pm
The existence of this ‘final’ album has been well trailed, anticipation has been great. Hayes is, after all, a key British improviser and it did seem unfair that his final studio album should have been ‘The Orchestra’, an album compromised, flaccid, unrepresentative of his work that went before.
The fifty-year-old recordings, now owned by Decca, are available in three formats: a five-track vinyl LP, a single CD equivalent and a bumper double deluxe CD that includes multiple takes from the two studio dates of 27 May 1969 and 24 June 1969.
Simon Spillett wrote briefly about the 1969 sessions that produced this album in his book ‘The Long Shadow of the Little Giant’. He wrote: ‘Several sessions in June and July, some bringing Mick Pyne back in yielded nothing that Hayes saw as useful as the resulting tapes have remained unreleased. “I’m sure if we heard them now, we’d like them.”Spike Wells says, “but Tubby just wasn’t happy with it at all.”’
Was Hayes right to dismiss the tracks or was Spike Wells correct? Simon Spillett who wrote the notes for the new albums and played a key role in getting the material issued is sure that Hayes was wrong. The album notes give the history of the loss and the discovery of the album. Spillett now feels that the music is an important part of Hayes’ legacy.
For guitarist Louis Stewart (not included on the 2 CD or LP) this was not a happy time. He was used in 1969 as a replacement for pianist Pyne. and there are bootlegs showing him playing happily with the quartet. You can hear him on the first three tracks of the deluxe CD.’Where Am I Going?’ Pyne plays on the tune on the main CD. Apparently, Louis Stewart was so nervous in the Philips studio at Stanhope Gate, Marble Arch that his efforts to calm his nerves increased the instability. Stewart and drummer Spike Wells had only been with Hayes for a few months and this was their first experience of a professional recording studio. Spike Wells on his website describes a steadily increasingly fraught session as Hayes grew irritated with Stewart.
The single five track CD, opens with ‘For Members Only’. The Hayes of old takes on the unusual structure of the piece which appears to breakdown before is starts again. Once it is underway, Hayes leans on and soars over the harmonic background played by Mike Pyne.
Ron Mathewson dominates ‘Grits, Beans and Greens’, his bass playing so assured , so rich, so certain and melodic. This is his track.
In the late sixties TV used to loot jazz theme for title sequences. ‘Rumpus’ could well serve like that. Hayes relished the theme and he roars off.
The playing of the ballad ‘You Know I Care’ is one of the surprises of the sessions. Ballad playing in the past always seemed as though it was to give the other musicians a break. Here, Hayes is restrained, not afraid of beauty. He explores the theme with tenderness, avoiding the mawkish. The final cadenza is perfect.
The Latin rhythm set by Spike Wells on ‘Where Am I Going?’ incites Hayes to fresh and unusual explorations.
Recently Spike Wells mused about these tracks: ‘All I can say is that we moved on and forgot about them. Now they have come to light, I am absolutely knocked out at the quality of the music. I think it fills an important gap in Tubby’s discography. Otherwise we would have nothing in the way of a high-quality studio session between early 1967 and his death in 1973.’
In films, we have feel-good movies. This is a feel-good album full of the joy and vitality of jazz, almost making you want to dance if only most of the tempos allowed it! Recorded with clarity and warmth fifty years ago, it is skillfully re-mastered by Gearbox.
This music was created at a time when jazz was changing, Coltrane had completed his explorations and reached places where few wanted to follow. Miles Davis was about to become electric. Hayes was showing the more conventional approach still had life and many more avenues to search.
There have been a number of lost and found sessions in recent times. Sometimes recordings are lost because there was little in them, just routine. Very rarely, ‘found’ sessions contain material that will cause us to wonder and reassess. This find will not cause us to re-evaluate Hayes, but it will provide a great ending to an important life in music and underlines that Hayes’ early death was a grievous loss to jazz.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
