Dorothy Ashby

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Dorothy Jeanne Ashby (* 6. August 1932 in Detroit , Michigan as Dorothy Jeanne Thompson ; † 13. April 1986 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American jazz - harpist and composer . She is one of the few modern jazz harpists , especially bebop . The New Groove Dictionary of Jazz considers her the only important harpist in bop. Although there were jazz harpists like Adele Girard before Ashby , they brought the specific sound of the harp into modern jazz more successfully than their predecessors. She also experimented with guitar-like, electrically amplified sounds and thus influenced later harpists such as Deborah Henson-Conant , Andreas Vollenweider and Carol Robbins .

life and work

Ashby grew up in Detroit , where her father, guitarist Wiley Thompson, introduced her to jazz. As a young girl, she first played the piano. She studied at Cass Technical High School with later jazz greats such as Donald Byrd , Gerald Wilson and Kenny Burrell . Before she started playing the harp, she also played the saxophone and double bass .

After her studies (piano and music education) she started working as a pianist in the Detroit jazz scene; finally from 1952 the harp became her main instrument. In order to promote the recognition of the harp, which with its specific sound was more likely to be attributed to European classical music, in jazz, which was then very wind-dominated, she organized shows with free entry and played with her trio at dance festivals and weddings. From the late 1950s she recorded with Ed Thigpen , Richard Davis , Jimmy Cobb , Frank Wess and others. During the 1960s she also had her own radio show in Detroit.

With her trio, which also included her husband John Ashby as a drummer , she toured regularly and recorded several albums. She also played with Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman . In 1962, she was voted best jazz musician on her instrument in the annual poll of Down Beat magazine. During this time she also worked with her husband in a theater group , the Ashby Players, for which she wrote scripts.

In the later 1960s, the Ashbys settled in California , where Dorothy Ashby worked as a studio musician. She supported Bill Withers , who recommended her to Stevie Wonder . This established her in the Los Angeles studio scene and made records with numerous artists such as Dionne Warwick , Diana Ross , Earth, Wind & Fire and Barry Manilow . She played the harp in the song " If It's Magic " on Stevie Wonder's 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life . She can also be heard on Bill Withers' album Justments .

Dorothy Ashby wrote instructions for using the harp and violoncello in jazz with modern harmonies.

Discography (selection)

Between 1956 and 1970 Dorothy Ashby recorded ten albums for jazz labels such as Savoy , Cadet, Prestige , New Jazz, Argo , Jazzland and Atlantic .

  • 1957: The Jazz Harpist ( Regent , Savoy) with Frank Wess , Eddie Jones or Wendell Marshall , Ed Thigpen
  • 1958: Dorothy Ashby plays for Beautiful People (Prestige)
  • 1958: In a Minor Groove (Prestige) with Frank Wess, Herman Wright , Art Taylor
  • 1958: Hip Harp (Prestige) with Frank Wess, Herman Wright, Roy Haynes
  • 1961: Dorothy Ashby (Jazzland)
  • 1961: Soft Winds (Jazzland)
  • 1965: The Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby (Atlantc) with Junior Mance
  • 1968: Afro Harping (Cadet)
  • 1969: Dorothy's Harp (Cadet)
  • 1970: The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby (Cadet)
  • 1984: Django / Misty (Philips)
  • 1984: Concerto De Aranjuez (Philips)

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Scott Yannow wrote: “There have been very few jazz harpists in history and Dorothy Ashby was one of the greats. Somehow she was able to play credible Bebop on her instrument. "
  2. ↑ quoted from Cook & Morton, p. 58
  3. ↑ On Rubaiyat , Ashby plays a Japanese instrument, the koto
personal data
SURNAME Ashby, Dorothy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ashby, Dorothy Jeanne; Thompson, Dorothy Jeanne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American harpist
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Detroit , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1986
Place of death Santa Monica , California