As far as my influences over the years are concerned, Getz was it at one stage in the proceedings, and later Rollins, Coltrane, Hank Mobley and, to a lesser degree, even Zoot [Sims].Hayes attended Rutlish School (1946-1951) in Merton Park.

[11] Hayes's youthful promise on tenor saxophone was recognised in 1951 when, aged 16, he joined Kenny Baker's sextet,[12] and later for big-band leaders such as Ambrose, Terry Brown, Tito Burns, Roy Fox, Vic Lewis and Jack Parnell.

[15] Hayes's voracious musical interests resulted in his learning the vibraphone in early 1957, after having tried Victor Feldman's instrument on a gig.

Released in the spring of 1960, Tubby's Groove was widely considered to be Hayes's best session to date, selling well and acquiring positive attention from the music press for its "maturity".

Through arrangement with Blue Note, Hayes's producer, Tony Hall, had successfully licensed a session by Dizzy Reece.

[23] Hayes would return to the United States for extended visits throughout the early 1960s,[13] bringing him into the orbit of many noted New York jazzmen, such as Paul Desmond, Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Sonny Rollins, and Al Cohn.

[27] Hayes played at the Half Note once again in 1964, at the Boston Jazz Workshop the same year, and at Shelly Manne's Manne-Hole in Los Angeles in 1965.

[7][11] The British jazz circuit went 'a bit quiet' for a time and Hayes increasingly found himself working abroad,[31] as well as cultivating a reputation as a session musician in diverse genres, including on such left-field recordings as Music in a Doll's House, the 1967 debut album by rock band Family.

[32] Hayes appeared in a number of films, including All Night Long with Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus,[33] and (with his group) in A King in New York directed by Charlie Chaplin,[34] The Beauty Jungle[35] and Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.

[12] He was cremated and the ashes interred at the Golders Green Crematorium, where there is a white stone memorial plaque affixed to one of the walls.

[17] A full-length biography, The Long Shadow of The Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes, by Simon Spillett, was published in 2015.

[43] Spillett has also catalogued Hayes's private tape archive and has organised the release of many previously unheard Hayes sessions on labels including Art Of Life, Rare Music, Fontana, Harkit, Tentoten, Savage Solweig, Gearbox, Trunk Records, Candid, Jasmine, Proper, Acrobat, Fantastic Voyage, Avid and Real Gone Jazz.

[45] Directed by Lee Cogswell and produced by Mark Baxter, with narration by actor Martin Freeman, the film explored Hayes's life and influence on the UK jazz music scene of the 1950s and 1960s.