It's long been rumoured there was a Tubby Hayes quartet session recorded for the Fontana label sitting unreleased in Universal's vaults – and here it is at last, released for the very first time to coincide with the 50th anniversary of its recording. When you consider practically everything you can think of with a 1969 provenance seems very much of its time – cars, fashion, design and so on – and then turn to this music, it really is remarkable how it has maintained such startling contemporaneity. Maybe that says less about the evolution of jazz during the intervening half century and more about the stature of the artist who created this album. What is striking is that Hayes' virtuosity is used to such expressive ends, a characteristic of his playing whereby nothing sounds gratuitous, or for effect. There is an exuberance in his playing that is compelling and demands attention – he's like the metaphorical life and soul of the party, you just want to engage with what is being said. Yet while this album does not have the impact of Mexican Green, recorded some two years earlier, it nevertheless is the work of a master musician who was among the top tenor saxophonists of his time and provides a musical snapshot of Hayes as he enters the final four years of his life. Maybe because 1968 had been such a difficult year for him, the intensity with which he begins a solo is not quite sustained. This is where the exemplary rhythm section, led by Mick Pyne on piano, come into their own, maintaining the creative momentum throughout. Standout tracks are a ballad performance of ‘Where Am I Going?’ and the attention-getting ‘For Members Only’ that opens the album. Released in conjunction with the vinyl is a double CD set Grits, Beans and Greens: The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969 (Complete) which contains the 27 May, 1969 session with Louis Stewart on guitar (three takes of ‘Where Am I Going’) and the 15 tracks recorded with Mick Pyne on piano in place of Stewart on 24 June, 1969 including alternative takes, breakdowns and studio chatter. The CDs do sacrifice the narrative arc of the vinyl album, since they are presented in the order recorded, so many may prefer the vinyl, but of course, you pays your money and you makes your choice.