18 Facts About Tubby Hayes

Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes was a British jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his virtuosic musicianship on tenor saxophone and for performing in jazz groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar.

Tubby Hayes is widely considered to be one of the finest jazz saxophonists to have emerged from Britain.

Tubby Hayes's father was a BBC studio violinist who gave his son violin lessons from an early age.

The group toured the UK extensively and recorded several sessions for Tempo Records but disbanded in 1956 as Tubby Hayes pursued other musical opportunities, including his own quartet.

Tubby Hayes continued to feature the flute alongside his saxophone performances to the end of his recording career.

Tubby Hayes's breakthrough came in 1957 when he joined fellow tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott to co-lead the Jazz Couriers, whose East Coast jazz aesthetic was influential within the British jazz scene and beyond.

Tubby Hayes signed to Fontana Records in 1961, quickly releasing his debut for the label, Tubbs.

Shortly after his signing to Fontana, Tubby Hayes was invited to play a residency at the Half Note Club in New York City as part of a new transatlantic Musicians' Union agreement negotiated by Pete King, with Zoot Sims performing at Ronnie Scott's as part of the exchange.

Tubby Hayes played at the Half Note in 1964, at the Boston Jazz Workshop the same year, and at Shelly Manne's Manne-Hole in Los Angeles in 1965.

Back in London, Tubby Hayes formed his own big band, working in television, film and radio, and even having his own television series.

Tubby Hayes stood in for Paul Gonsalves in February 1964, when the Ellington orchestra played at the Royal Festival Hall.

The British jazz circuit went 'a bit quiet' for a time and Tubby Hayes increasingly found himself working abroad, as well as cultivating a reputation as a session musician in diverse genres, including on such left-field recordings as Music in a Doll's House, the 1967 debut album by rock band Family.

Tubby Hayes appeared in a number of films, including All Night Long with Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus, and in A King in New York directed by Charlie Chaplin, The Beauty Jungle and Dr Terror's House of Horrors.

Tubby Hayes's issues arising from the downturn in the UK jazz circuit were made worse by a combination of relationship, alcohol and narcotics issues, which by 1968 had begun to publicly affect his career.

Tubby Hayes was arrested at his home in Chelsea in August 1968 for possession of heroin and, owing to his difficulties with addiction, was given a suspended sentence.

Tubby Hayes died in June 1973, during a second heart operation at the Hammersmith Hospital, at the age of 38.

Tubby Hayes was cremated and the ashes interred at the Golders Green Crematorium, where there is a white stone memorial plaque affixed to one of the walls.

Tubby Hayes left a legacy of recordings which became sought-after collectors' items, almost all of which have been re-issued on CD.