Tubby Hayes: A Man in a Hurry

Sadly there have been very few knowledgeable in-depth documentaries on jazz musicians and whilst I welcome any such documentary (on the real jazz - as here - and not the musac that critics and those similarly less knowledgeable seem to label as "jazz" these days!) I must admit to being underwhelmed and disappointed by this documentary which lacked depth and skimmed the surface! Nice to see "Father" Spike (Wells) who actually played with Tubby (unlike jazz panjandrum Simon Spillett who appeared in the documentary but who was not born until 1974 and never knew nor ever heard Tubby play in live performance - Tubby died in 1973!). I actually regard Bobby Wellins as the greatest British jazz tenor saxophonist (born in Glasgow!) - and indeed one of the greatest tenor saxophonists in jazz history!

It's OK - but for a modern documentary, maybe a bit pedestrian. Definitely worth a look for the footage of the great man himself, But the 'talking heads' stuff is very BBC docu, circa 1995. Didn't really do it for me.

Tubby Hayes was something of a prodigy, working professionally as a tenor sax player from his mid-teens. This documentary, made by a director who knows what he's doing (he also designed the graphics), puts the case that Hayes could have been a giant of modern jazz if (a) he had been born in the US, and (b) if he hadn't died of heroin-induced heart failure at 38. A wide range of authoritative speakers, including Hayes' biographer Simon Spillett, and Hayes' son Richard, explain the musician's brilliance for the benefit of those who are not jazz aficionados, and a huge amount of television and film clips are packed into an hour's run time. They include "Dr Terror's House of Horrors", which introduced "Voodoo", one of Hayes' most popular numbers, and "London in the Raw" featuring Hayes' girlfriend, American jazz singer Joy Marshall, also destined to die young. Originally on a DVD that probably sold only to fans, the film is now more widely available, but is good enough to be on a major TV channel.