05/03/14 -

It was with much sadness that I learnt of Ray Hayes’ passing from Ian McCann.

Ray was certainly a dedicated individualist, a talented clarinettist, indeed also respected in his working career.

He had a particular love of animals. His sense of humour was also very dry. I played in Ray’s band The Roaring Twenties for about 11 years after we both left the River City and also took him on 2 tours to Germany. A strong personal memory of Ray was when, after not playing for very many months, he practised again to come to my milestone birthday party especially to play with our band there. Though he retired from playing several years ago his presence on a jazz band stand and contribution to the genre will never be forgotten.

 
Ray in Germany 1992

Alan Davies, Cornwall

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08/03/14 -

So sorry to hear about Ray Hayes. We go back to the early 60's when we used to play at the 1250 club (RAF Club) at the top of Bold Street Liverpool. He used to come most Sundays to hear the band and sit in from time to time. We were into the Hot 5's, 7's and Oliver then which was of course his forte.

He did of course run his own band for many years but I never found out why he stopped playing. It was such a shame. A fine musician.

Condolences to his family and friends.

Peter Swensson. (Savoy Jazzmen)

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14/03/14 -

Helen and I had heard a lot about Ray Hayes during our early years in Liverpool at the beginning of the eighties, and when the opportunity arose for us to see and hear him play we jumped at the chance. His virtuosity on the clarinet was legendary, as was his hot-tempered unwillingness to suffer fools gladly. I can't remember where the gig took place, but it was in Liverpool, in quite a plush room with a raised seating area at the sides, and the band played on a proscenium stage. Among the musicians, Mike Swift was on banjo, I remember, and Bert Don on bass guitar, but before we arrived there was only one person in the audience - a relatively elderly woman who kept getting up to dance in an eccentric fashion in front of the band. Ray's impatience manifested itself pretty early on when he asked her to stop dancing and, when she did it again a little later, ordered her to leave. From then on, there were only two of us in the audience, but what we lacked in numbers we more than made up for in enthusiasm for the band. They were outstanding.

A few years later, I became part of Ray's regular Roaring Twenties line-up on Tuesday nights at the Black Dog, Waverton, with Alan Bray on trumpet, Alan Pendlebury or (later) Arthur Williams on trombone, Ian McCann on banjo and Alan Davies on drums. Alan Bray's wife Tina 'Bricktop' Earl would often join us on vocals, and I shall always treasure the experience of playing in that band under Ray's leadership. He wasn't always sweetness and light, and I received one or two memorable tongue-lashings, but he was a gifted musician who knew what he was talking about, and he taught me more than I can say.

Thanks, Ray.

Allan Wilcox

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15/03/14 -

One of the bands Ray played in during the late 1960`s was the Mick Burns Rhythm Kings -- a band who included in their repertoire many numbers recorded in 1923 by King Olivers Creole Jazz Band. They utilised two trumpets as Oliver did & arrangements were very tight & organised. Ray`s role on clarinet was to interweave around the melody line & also play some incredibly difficult `breaks` - both of which he achieved superbly.
He based his playing at this time on Johnny Dodds & his driving, fluid style truly emulated the sound Dodds created with the Oliver band.

The band were only together for about 18 months & when Mick Burns went back to London the name was changed to the Harlem Hot Stompers -- a band still playing in the North West & Ray came to listen to them recently at Rochdale Jazz Club ( 2nd of February )

Apart from being a brilliant clarinetist Ray was also quite a character. He would turn up for jobs in his Jaguar & expect more travelling expenses than anyone else !

John Ronan

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29/03/14 -

I was sorry to hear of the death of Ray Hayes. I introduced Ray to jazz in the late 50’s or early 60’s. At that time I lived in Liverpool but worked in Widnes where Ray lived. Ray was about 5 years younger than I and we met, I think, at one of the chemical companies where we both worked. I can’t remember quite how it became obvious that I was interested in jazz but Ray soon wanted to learn as much as I could tell him about this music. I lent him some books and records and very shortly he had purchased a clarinet as his idol was,right from the start, Johnny Dodds. His progress was rapid and the rest is history, his interest in Dodds obviously remaining with him. However I have a feeling that at some stage Ray did flirt with a tenor sax!

I moved from Liverpool in the early 60’s and lost touch with Ray. It seems that he was successful in following his idol and it appears from the tributes paid that he was much appreciated by his fellow musicians. His passing is a sad loss.

Colin Pritchard

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02/04/14 -

Pete Swensson rang me in Brighton last night to tell me of the sad news of Ray Hayes’s death. I played with him for some years at his weekly jazz spot in the Adelphi Hotel along with Malc Murphy, Malcolm Horne and Co. and at other outside venues, though I can’t remember what name the band played under then. But I can remember back to when Ray Hayes had his authentic pair of wooden Albert clarinets. They had relatively few keys and were difficult to play, but boy did they have a fantastic sound. If Ray was there first, and he usually was (because he was a conscientious organiser), you could hear him warming up from Renshaw Street! The old clarinets also meant fewer notes and more thought and I was initially disappointed when Ray updated to more modern versions. But he had a fantastic technique, a superb memory and great musicianship. He was genuinely interested in what jazz could achieve and we had many long conversations about this at weekends. This must have been in the 1970s to judge from the photos. As a band leader Ray took no nonsense from anyone, management and audience included. Sometimes I wondered how we kept our regular gigs for so long: it must have been the quality of the music as Ray was such an exciting and extrovert player. A one-off who had the Dodds and Noone traditions entirely at his fingertips. A legend in his lifetime who will be sadly missed.

‘Professor’ Robert Orledge

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