The Tubby Hayes Quartet

Previously only issued in fragmented form and long out of print, these recordings catch Tubby Hayes in transition. Less than a month after they were taped just before Christmas 1969, he was to collapse on a gig, signaling the beginning of the final phase of his tragically foreshortened career. But on this night, buoyed and stimulated by his regular working quartet of pianist Mike Pyne, bassist Ron Mathewson and drummer Spike Wells, Hayes wasn’t only on form he was on fire! Indeed, coming so clos…