Modes and Blues: 8th February 1964
Live At Ronnie Scott's
RSGB1013OBI
Release date: 10 March, 2021
12” 180gram 33rpm LP
Mono
Liner notes by Hiroki Sugita
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.
The Quintet had barely a few months left to run at the time of this performance, splitting in August 1964, fearing its music had atrophied into self-parody. Modes and Blues is among its many triumphs, a performance that shows how high the band had set the aspirational bar for British modernism, and, as such, is as much a cultural document as a musical souvenir.
Tracklist
Side One: Modes and Blues (Part One) 18:04
Side Two: Modes and Blues (Part Two) 15:28
Personnel
Tubby Hayes: flute, tenor saxophone Jimmy Deuchar: trumpet
Terry Shannon: piano
Freddy Logan: double bass
Allan Ganley: drums
Vinyl mastering and cutting by Darrel Sheinman and Caspar Sutton-Jones at Gearbox Records from the original master tapes courtesy of Les Tomkins