The Tubby Hayes Quintet

Jazz in Britain are pleased to announce the forthcoming release of a stunning previously unissued live recording of the legendary saxophonist Tubby Hayes and his quintet live at the Antibes Jazz Festival in July 1962. Hayes' band including trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar, pianist Gordon Beck, bassist Freddy Logan and drummer Allan Ganley were the UK's representative on a starry festival bill also featuring US stars Jimmy Smith, Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Domino, drawing rave press reviews and the admiration of a new continental audience. 

Recently unearthed radio broadcast tapes in pin sharp audio quality reveal a group hitting its collaborative stride, tackling Hayes' helter skelter hard bop themes and coolly melodic adaptations of Great American Songbook standards with equal relish. Indeed, six months after the quintet's formation and two months on from the taping of their classic Fontana albums 'Late Spot at Scott's' and 'Down In The Village' this newly discovered concert recording catches the band close to its first creative peak. 

Packaged with an extensive booklet essay by saxophonist and Hayes' biographer Simon Spillett and rare photographs and contemporary press memorabilia The Tubby Hayes Quintet: Antibes ‘62 is both a significant addition to Hayes' legacy and a fitting tribute to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the saxophonist's birth.

'This was the first short-lived edition of this band', says Spillett. 'Gordon Beck was soon to leave the group and you can hear how much closer together he and the other musicians are on this recording than on those Fontana albums. It sounds like a band that had worked every night and there are risks being taken as well as the tight playing you'd expect from a regular group. The two different versions of 'Modes and Blues' show this. Everyone is really creating. Plus the recording quality is so good that you can hear a lot of detail in the playing that just isn't there on some of the other live Tubby albums. It's very up close, very atmospheric.'