Little Giant Gets The Blue Plaque Treatment At Last
Tubby Hayes, London’s very own Jazz Legend, has at last been awarded the coveted Blue Plaque treatment.
On Wednesday August 31st 2016, a small crowd gathered at 34 Kenwyn Road, SW20, now the home of David and Maureen, to witness Tubby’s son Richard unveil a Heritage Foundation plaque in honour of his father, who lived in the house from 1936 to 1951.
There have been mooted plans for such an award for some years, all of which had come to nothing, but the Heritage Foundation’s interest was piqued by writer and film-maker Mark Baxter, mastermind behind the recent documentary film Tubby Hayes: A Man In A Hurry (Mono Media Films, 2015). The Foundation have previously honoured pop and rock icons including Beatles’ John Lennon and George Harrison and Dusty Springfield, among others. Thanks to Baxter’s dedication and belief, the plaque for Hayes marks their first award to a jazz legend.
Those who attended the unveiling included the director of A Man In A Hurry, celebrated film-maker Lee Cogswell and long-time Hayes’ champion, saxophonist Simon Spillett, author of The Long Shadow of The Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes (Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2015).
Says Spillett: “The awarding of a Blue Plaque to Tubby’s childhood home is, I think, a long-overdue acknowledgement of his cultural importance. His story and music are well known, but this award gives credit to his being a key figure in what was a truly special era for the arts and entertainment in the UK. In fact, there’s a slightly surreal feeling in realising that Tubby’s world class jazz talent was incubated not in New York or Los Angeles but in post-war suburban London. You can just imagine him as a teenaged lad, saxophone case in hand, trotting off down Kenwyn Road to catch a train into the West End. His career may have been on an international level, but the plaque plants him firmly on the map as a London icon, a distinctly British jazz legend.”
Hayes frequently returned to his family home during his stormy twenty-three year professional career, living there again briefly during the early 1970s while recuperating from open-heart surgery. His mother, Dorothy Kenyon lived in the house until the 1980s.
Excellent news. About time too!
That’s wonderful news, Colin. I can think of many other musicians from that generation who deserve a plaque but at least it’s a start.
Indeed. It seems that shouting loudly enough is part of the process. So find someone to shout at and do so if you have any axes to grind. (We had an occasional contributor at the old place who spent some time shouting at authorities on Tyneside to get a blue plaque for a member of Lindisfarne on a city hall. He was eventually successful but then I seem to recall something about the building being demolished, or talk of it. If said individual is still on the blog, tell us the latest…)
Very cool.