One Night Stand

Had you been present at The Royal Festival Hall on the night of 15 February, 1964,for the first night of the Ellington band's you  would have witnessed - and for one night only - the sight of sound of Tubby Hayes in the saxophone section. He had been called in to deputise for the absent Paul Gonsalves.

The evening has long captured my imagination in part, because, this is the only occasion - I think - when a British musician appeared in the Ellington line-up and Tubby himself cuts a romantic figure in jazz.

I've posted elsewhere about this evening (here)but I am reminded of the occasion because early next year sees the long-awaited publication of Simon Spillett's biography of Tubby: The Long Shadow of the Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes Simon is an acknowledged expert on Tubby's career. The Jazzscript essay here gives you a taste of the biography. It is to be published by Equinox Publishing on 25 March, 2015.

Until then, Simon is a guiding light on the All About Jazz forum's discussion thread, For All Tubby Hayes Fans which is well worth a visit.

Here's some additional information on the date from Ken Vail's Duke's Diary.