Although during his teens Edward Brian (Tubby) Hayes had briefly made his presence heard on recordings by Kenny Baker (1951), Vic Lewis and Jack Parnell (1954), it wasn’t until Jazzwise stalwart Tony Hall first took the 20 year old tenor sax player into Decca’s West Hampstead studio on 10 March, 1955 to tape his solo debut for Tempo that this young whiz kid began to prove his true worth.

Inspired by Alfred Lion’s Blue Note label, the ever enthusiastic Hall’s objective was to nurture the best of British, be it known players (Jimmy Deuchar, Victor Feldman) or then unknown faces (Dizzy Reece, Wilton ‘Bogey’ Gaynair). In this he more than succeeded.

It was to be a most fruitful association during which we can witness both Hayes and Hall steadily maturing in their respective roles into world-class status via albums that include Lights Out (1956) and Tubby’s Groove (1959). Together they attained a creative peak when, in 1957, partnered by Ronnie Scott, Hayes cut the first of four brilliant Jazz Couriers LPs of which The Couriers Of Jazz and The Jazz Couriers In Concert, both cut just one year later, probably have the edge.

For Hall, it was rarely a question of a ‘shove ’em in a studio for a few hours and let them get on with it’ attitude. Where possible, sessions were planned, ideas formulated and beer and sandwiches ordered. As you will hear, it paid dividends as the still young Hayes established himself as one of the great tenor sax players of that era.

While much of Tubby’s Tempo material has been scattered indiscriminately on numerous other reissues, this six CD box set release – complete with a superbly written in-depth essay by Simon Spillett – has to be the definitive statement. And a testament to the very special creative chemistry shared by Tubbs and Tony.