Dorothy Ashby: The Fantastic Jazz Harp Of Dorothy Ashby [LIFE GOES ON]

Why you'll love it

Ashby made the harp swing like a horn, and this 1965 session is a great place to hear it. Richard Davis on bass, Grady Tate on drums and Willie Bobo on percussion keep things moving, with a four-trombone section on several cuts.

About the album

The harp has a reputation for clouds, cherubs and wedding ceremonies. Dorothy Ashby, the daughter of a Detroit jazz guitarist who went to Cass Tech with Donald Byrd and Kenny Burrell, spent her career proving it could play bebop with the best of them. She cut this album in New York on May 3 and 4, 1965, for Atlantic, with Arif Mardin and Ollie McLaughlin producing and Tom Dowd at the desk.

Four Ashby originals sit beside six standards and traditional tunes. "Flighty" and "Essence of Sapphire" show off her own writing, "Feeling Good" stretches out the longest, and "House of the Rising Sun" and "Invitation" get the full treatment. Jimmy Cleveland, Quentin Jackson, Sonny Russo and Tony Studd form the trombone section, and Willie Bobo's percussion gives the whole record a light, Latin lift, while Richard Davis and Grady Tate, two of the busiest players in New York, lock in the rhythm.

It sits between her 1962 self-titled album and the much-sampled Afro-Harping, and you can hear the bridge between the two. Anyone who thinks the harp is too polite for jazz has simply never been introduced to Ms. Ashby.

Also at Kops: more Dorothy Ashby on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Life Goes On (cat# LIFE064), a reissue of the 1965 album.