R&B Records has a habit of delving into the dark recesses of long-gone jazz radio and they’ve done it again with this stunning release.

First off, it’s Tubby and the Commonwealth Jazz Orchestra, star-packed and including selected overseas players e.g. Ellefson, Keane and Burns, from a BBC Jazz Club broadcast of 30 August. Disc 2 presents two further Jazz Club sessions, this time by the Hayes quartet from the previous January and July respectively.

The big band broadcast runs to 10 pieces, each arranged by Hayes and all executed with tremendous panache – just consider that trumpet section, Bowen’s lead the standout - the writing ‘packing a punch’ in booklet writer Simon Spillett’s words, this evident first with ‘A Change of Setting’, drummer Stephenson firmly at the controls, Hayes in insistent solo form and Wheeler exultant. ‘Blues for Pipkins’ has a neat motif, baritone on top, the Canadian tenorist Ellefson soloing ably before a trombone interlude [by Christie?] precedes the trumpets and Tracey seeing things through to the end. If further confirmation were needed of Hayes’ world-class standing, it’s here with ‘100% Proof’, with his bravura opening and impressive capacity for across-the-range creativity. The ill-fated Joy Marshall vocalises brightly on her four numbers, clearly echoing Carmen McRae in her sound and style.

As to the quartet sessions, Hayes is again in total command, imperious on tenor and flute, self-assured and unstinting in his desire to burn through his material, Shannon sparkling but about to disappear into self-induced exile. Never knowingly undersold when it came to bandstand intensity, Hayes was a phenomenon, and one to be cherished all the more as each new session is uncovered for us.