The late Tubby Hayes is still arguably the most celebrated of all British jazz musicians, even 43 years after his death in June 1973 in Hammersmith Hospital in London, at 38 years of age.
As a youth, the gifted tenor saxophonist had been influenced by Coltrane, Parker and Getz. While he learned by listening to their records, he also emulated the jazz life-style, apparently in the belief that lots of drink and drugs would enhance the performance.
In Man in a Hurry, the DVD documentary about his life released last year, the few pieces of concert footage featured show a man who smiled easily and appeared to carry no burdens. Yet outstanding talent can be a burden, and many are the artists whose lives have been ruined by a gift. Quite aside from the adulation of his fans and admirers, fellow musicians held Tubby in awe. “He had the finest technique and fluency of anybody around, I would say in the world, “ says drummer Spike Wells in that Man in a Hurry film.
These February 1972 live recordings from Stockholm and Gothenburg, dates played on his first visit to Sweden, constitute Volume 4 in the ongoing set of releases from the Tubby Hayes Archive. Hayes essays charming versions of popular chestnuts, Autumn Leaves (on which he plays flute) and Someday My Prince Will Come. Although he says but a few words, the enterprise seems enlivened by the legendary player's kindly, gregarious spirit.
Hayes is aided and abetted here by two skilled Scandinavian outfits, the Bengt Hallberg and Staffan Abeleen Trios. The album opens with the title track, Split Kick itself - apparently a Horace Silver number – in which his mellifluous sax spins out the tune with resonant fluency. By contrast, I Thought About You is endearingly intimate. The release contains a lengthy essay by Hayes’ biographer Simon Spillett. Recommended for warmth, these winter nights.
Paddy Kehoe
