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If you are a British jazz fan of a certain age, it is highly likely that you will have already purchased this recording. Recorded in 1965 and first released in 1966, this album was quickly recognised as an iconic landmark in British jazz. It received more publicity than any album before it and the critics as one were of the opinion that the UK had finally made a record of truly international standing.With the advent of a music industry more interested in selling units than quality, despite the staggering reception it received and countless awards bestowed, it was not long before it was deleted from the catalogue and remained in the Columbia Records vault until its tenth anniversary when Stan and his wife, Jackie, like so many other musicians at that period, formed their own independent label in 1976. Under Milk Wood was naturally to be their first release, back then still on vinyl. It won further awards throughout the industry, this time for Best Reissue and the album enjoyed another wave of success. When Steam Records expired around 1989, CDs had just arrived and other labels had their turn at reissuing the masterpiece. I began Resteamed Records in the late 2000s to document Stan's recorded works, past, present so of course the fir''st release was this one. It was my intention to keep it in print for all generations to experience the music created in 1965 and, as a result, it has been reissued on Resteamed several times since. This release, however, is the first time since 1976 that it can be heard on vinyl. I need hardly stress how popular vinyls have become again in recent years the sound quality has always been special compared to digital versions. I will let the music speak for itself. Much has already been penned over the years, I'm sure a short book could house the dozens of adulating reviews it has procured. But I did want to make particular mention of the musicians. Stan, as many people are aware, was resident pianist at Ronnie Scott's Club in its heyday in the 1960s and it was after hours that he wrote the material we find on this album. He had already struck up a strong musical partnership with Bobby Wellins on tenor saxophone since 1959 at the Flamingo Club in London and it's important to establish here once and for all that Stan always maintained the success of the album was due to Bobby's interpretation of the music, coupled with his unique sound. Young Jeff Clyne on bass became a much loved musician and tutor in later years and regularly worked with Stan in the 1960s, while Jackie Dougan, who was Stan's preferred small group drummer, emigrated to Australia soon after this recording but tragically died in a road accident. This was a pivotal moment in British jazz when first released and I feel certain this latest format will be welcomed by another new generation of listeners, while others will be reminded of this epic moment in our jazz history and hopefully listen with the pride that I feel whenever I've played it. Clark Tracey 2023 |   
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Fontana Records
"Grits, Beans and Greens - The Tubby Hayes Quartet "The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969" A newly discovered studio album from Tubby Hayes recorded in 1969 is released for the first time. Thought to be either lost or destroyed until their recent rediscovery, these 1969 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.” Hayes entered the studio in London for the first date with his new working quartet that included two youthful membership changes from the line-up that delivered 1967’s masterpiece, ‘Mexican Green’. Dublin guitarist, Louis Stewart and drummer Spike Wells had been with Hayes for only a matter of months and this was to be their first experience of the disciplines of the recording studio. There were difficulties the session produced just three complete takes of ‘Where Am I Going’ from the musical ‘Sweet Charity’. By June, Hayes’ former pianist, Mike Pyne, was available and replaced Stewart for the second session. 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. 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). The release comes in three formats: LP - 180 Gram Vinyl plus Booklet Insert. 5 Tracks. 1960s Records Limited Edition 
The Dick Morrissey QuartetJazz For Moderns, 1964 Not since the days of the teenaged Tubby Hayes had the UK jazz scene witnessed a young musician with so frighteningly advanced a talent as Dick Morrissey. By 1961, aged twenty, he had recorded his début album It's Morrissey, Man! for Fontana and he soon found himself a popular draw in London's club land. Recordings for radio broadcast ensured the band's message reached a wider audience. Taped for the series Jazz For Moderns , the previously unreleased sessions heard on this new album are especially valuable. Not only do they plug a gap in the Morrissey discography they are thought to have been recorded in early 1964 - but because, through Jackie Dougan s indisposition due to tonsillitis, Bill Eyden is also featured, making this the first recorded example of the regular line-up of the later 1966/67 Dick Morrissey Quartet. If Morrissey's début album showed him to be a logical successor to Hayes, then these follow-up sessions provide a much stronger case for the younger man's own, if anything even more soulful, individuality. Throughout this record, there is a wonderful, almost tangible, sense of a band enjoying its work, something which in the stone-faced world of British modern jazz wasn't always apparent. This infectious enthusiasm stemmed directly from the leader - 'always jumping from foot to foot, urging his side-men on with whoops of glee' as Jazz Journal put it. Classic British modern jazz albums are rare beasts, owing to all sorts of factors, many of which are nothing whatsoever to do with those performing on them. This new release, capturing the era in which London produced its own take on the jazz trends of the day, is a valuable addition to that select catalogue. Not only does it showcase four of the UK's best bop-apprenticed jazz talents in top form, all of them alas long gone, it provides moods and grooves that remain strong enough to catch a new generation of listeners. Simon Spillett. Personnel: Tubby Hayes (tenor saxophone), Jimmy Deuchar (trumpet), Terry Shannon (piano), Freddy Logan (double bass), Allan Ganley (drums) Gearbox Records (March 2017) 
The Tubby Hayes QuintetModes and Blues: Live at Ronnie Scotts - 8th February, 1964 12" 180gm 33rpm Mono LP Catalogue number GB1013 Release Date: 24th March, 2017 This is a previously unreleased mono recording of Modes and Blues from the Tubby Hayes Quintet’s weekly Ronnie Scott’s residency on 8th February 1964. Regarded as one of the masterworks of British modern jazz, Modes and Blues shows the Quintet at the very height of its powers, channelling the new musical flavours and inspiration that Tubby Hayes had absorbed from the cutting edge of jazz and the new directions of John Coltrane. Recorded with Hayes’ approval by Les Tomkins on his Ferrograph tape recorder, this is one of the most engrossing of all his stretch-out epics. Hayes digs in deep with marathon and breathtaking soloing, trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar delivers his characteristically lyrical improvisation, and there’s dynamic interplay and drive from the great Terry Shannon, Freddy Logan and Allan Ganley rhythm section. Titles:1. Modes and Blues (part 1) 2. Modes and Blues (part 2) Personnel: Tubby Hayes (tenor saxophone), Jimmy Deuchar (trumpet), Terry Shannon (piano), Freddy Logan (double bass), Allan Ganley (drums) Gearbox Records 
The Jazz CouriersLive in Morecambe 1959 - Tippin 12" 180gm 33rpm Mono LP Catalogue number GB1510 Release Date: 2012 “Best Unearthed Gem 2012’ - New York City Jazz Record. This is a the award-winning previously unreleased live performance from the formidable British jazz quintet co-led by Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott for two and half years at the close of the 1950’s. The four recordings are without doubt some of the finest examples of Hayes’ art to have yet been discovered, and all the more remarkable for the circumstances in which they were recorded. Originally released 2012 as 12” LP. Titles:1. Tippin’, 2. For All We Know, 3. Embers, 4. Cherokee Personnel: Tubby Hayes (tenor saxophone), Ronnie Scott (tenor saxophone), Terry Shannon (piano) Jeff Clyne (double bass), Bill Eyden (drums) Gearbox Records August (2015) 
Tubby Hayes QuartetThe Syndicate - Live at the Hopbine 1968 (Vol 1) 12" 180gm 33rpm Mono LP includes download code Cat No Gearbox GB1532 Release Date: 14 August 2015 2015 is the 80th anniversary of Tubby Hayes' birth. There's a lot happening too; a new book - 'The Long Shadow of the Little Giant' by Simon Spillett has just been published and a the documentary movie A Man in a Hurry is coming this autumn. We're contributing to this special year with this previously unavailable live performance from a great Hayes lineup that never made a commercially available album. Recorded on 5th December 1968 by Ted Lyons at the legendary Hopbine in North Wembley, The Syndicate reveals Hayes' new quartet that featured the spectacular Dublin born guitarist Louis Stewart and 22 year old drummer Spike Wells, with Kenny Baldock standing in for regular double bassist Ron Mathewson. With artwork by Gearbox Art Director Alan Foulkes and detailed sleeve notes by tenor saxophonist and Hayes biographer Simon Spillett, The Syndicate now fills an aching gap in Hayes' discography and our understanding of his remarkable musical journey. Personnel: Tubby Hayes (tenor saxophone), Louis Stewart (guitar), Kenny Baldock (double bass), Spike Wells (drums) Candid Records March (2014) 
Tubby Hayes - Tubby's New Groove Candid CJS9554 (1959)/Pure Pleasure Records (2013) - audiophile mono vinyl Tubby Hayes - tenor saxophone; Terry Shannon - piano; Jeff Clyne = double bass; Phil Seamen - drums Tubby's New Groove was resurrected from the personal effects of industry veteran Alfred Lion. These tracks were recorded in 1959 as part of the debut album, Tubby's Groove. Hidden in the relative obscurity of the U.K. in the late 1950s it is a rare look at the seminal performer of an under-appreciated British jazz scene. Playing in a quartet (Terry Shannon/piano; Jeff Clyne/double bass; Phil Seamen/drums), Hayes' tenor saxophone is brilliant. The overall vibe feels like a live performance. Pure Pleasure Records has re-mastered this mono recording with great detail and texture. Hayes' saxophone is fluid and balances richness of sound with raw sensibility. The overall mix is very good, and the volume levels are steady. Simon Spillett's 2010 liner notes on these sessions and the 1950s British jazz scene are entertaining and incisive. TrackList: Side 1: Tin Tin Doo; Visa; Supper At Phil's Side 2: Symphony; Hook's Way; The Trolley Song Gearbox Records January (2014) Newsletter 
The Ronnie Scott Quartet1612 Overture 10" 45rpm EP includes free vinyl download code Cat No: Gearbox RSGB1001 This previously unreleased recording of the 1612 Overture demonstrating the brilliance of Ronnie Scott was captured on 19th October 1963 at the original Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club - The Old Place - at 39, Gerrard Street, Soho. It was recorded with Ronnie's permission by Les Tomkins using a Ferrograph tape recorder running at 3 3/4 ips and with Grampian ribbon microphones. It is the first release in a new joint venture label between Gearbox Records and Ronnie Scott's, and was previously only available to club members and Gearbox subscribers. This is a strictly limited edition release of 500 copies, each individually numbered. Tracklisting: 1. 1612 Overture (Ronnie Scott)17:56/2. The Club And I (Ronnie Scott talking to Les Tomkins) 16:22 Personnel: Ronnie Scott (tenor saxophone), Stan Tracey (piano), Malcolm Cecil (double bass), Jackie Dougan (drums) 
Tubby Hayes Quartet - Seven Steps to HeavenLive at the Hopbine 1972 12" 180gm Vinyl LP plus free download code Cat No: Gearbox GB1523 This is the first ever commercial release of an important late period Tubby Hayes performance that fully captures the more restrained and subtler side of his robust talent. The repertoire comprises the well known standards he was favouring at that time, and in addition to Hayes' remarkable tenor saxophone and flute solos there are exceptional performances by pianist Mike Pyne, double bassist Daryl Runswick and drummer Tony Oxley. Limited to 500 copies only. Tracklisting: Someday My Prince Will Come/Seven Steps To Heaven/Alone Together. Personnel: Tubby Hayes - tenor saxophone, flute, Mike Pyne - piano, Daryl Runswick - bass, Tony Oxley - drums. 
Michael Garrick Sextet - Prelude to Heart is a LotusRecorded 1986 12" 180gm Vinyl LP plus free download code Cat No: Gearbox GB1517 Recorded at BBC Maida Vale Studios in 1968 prior to the recording of the "official" Argo version this LP contains some of the titles that were included. Tracklisting: Heart Is A Lotus, Sweet And Sugary Candy, Song By The Sea, Temple Dancer, Little Girl. Personnel: Michael Garrick - piano, harpsichord, celeste. Don Rendell - alto saxophone, flute, soprano saxophone. Ian Carr - trumpet. Coleridge Goode - double bass. Trevor Tomkins - percussion. |