Dorothy Ashby – Afro-Harping (1968)

Dorothy Ashby – Afro-Harping Orig. release 1968 Cadet Records / 2018 Geffen / UMe Next to Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby is easily the best-known proponent of “jazz harp.” I mean, it’s not exactly a crowded scene, is it? This record stimulates all my auralgenous zones, drawing on ‘soul jazz’, pop, Latin, post-bop, R&B and proto-funk. It may even evoke “exotica”, but only in the best ways: the lead-off track has a theremin in it, FFS. It’s the kind of thing jazz purists used to overlook or disdain, with many nods to contemporary pop (“The Look of Love” closes the record, […]
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