The Jazz Couriers - The Jazz Couriers. England's Greatest Combo / The Message from Britain (2014)

Tracklist

01. Mirage
02. After Tea
03. Stop the World, I Want to Get Off
04. In Salah
05. Star Eyes
06. The Monk
07. My Funny Valentine
08. Day in, Day Out
09. If This Isn't Love
10. Easy to Love
11. Whisper Not
12. Autumn Leaves
13. Too Close for Comfort
14. Yesterdays
15. Love Walked In
16. Last Minute Blues

In April 1957 the formidable British tenor men Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott teamed up to form a group which they called The Jazz Couriers. During their more than two and a half years together, the Couriers developed into an extremely close-knit unit, widely acclaimed throughout Britain and the rest of Europe.

Tubby Hayes (1935-1973) was born in London, the son of a violinist who started him on that instrument. Switching to tenor at 12, he began playing in jazz clubs when he was 14, and at 16 launched into four years with various name bands. He doubled on vibes, baritone and flute and acknowledged Sonny Rollins and Johnny Griffin as major influences.

Ronnie Scott (1927-1996), one of the early leaders of the modern jazz movement in England, was also a Londoner with a big-band background. His main influences were Charlie Ventura, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins.

Crisp, accurate, inventive and irresistibly swinging, The Jazz Couriers not only boasted of two of the top solo horn players in Europe in Scott and Hayes, it also had the advantage of having a superb rhythm section in which the contribution of master pianist, Terry Shannon, was outstanding.

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