Rare And Obscure Argo Recordings (XVII)

Dorothy Ashby

Dorothy Ashby

A jazz harpist is a rare thing. First of all the harp is a rather unlikely instrument to swing. It's an awfully difficult instrument to play really well and it demands technique that is incongruous with swinging. Perhaps as important is the thinking that the harp, by the very nature of the instrument, is likely to attract musicians who, in themselves, are improbable swingers. Dorothy Ashby is, then, a rare thing. She is indeed a jazz harpist and she does swing.

Dorothy is a Detroit musician and in some circles that, in itself, is some claim to fame. Detroit has produced an uncommon group of splendid muicians… Milt Jackson, Paul Chambers, Kenny Burrell, Pepper Adams, all those Joneses, Frank Rosolino and many more — rather a strong group to stand out among. Cannonball Adderley recently made the remark that any musician who makes it among that Detroit crowd has got to be saying something. Dorothy is much loved and respected among her Detroit contemporaries and has surely distinguished herself in their company.

This is a trio album.  With Dorothy are  Herman Wright playing bass, and John Tooley on drums. Again Dorothy is with men of stature. Herman Wright has been a firmly established musician for a long time and appears in an enormous number of albums, but is probably best know for his work with Terry Gibbs and George Shearing. John Tooley's creddits include that coveted experience of accompanying Billy Holiday.

This is not hard jazz. This is an album that says jazz can, after all, be melodic, that a thing can be gentle without being weak and can be sweet without being saccrine. What is done here is done well, the improvisation is creative, and in typical Dorothy Ashby thinking — it’s done in beautiful taste. 

She is indeed a jazz harpist and she does swing. *Jim Rockwell (liner notes)*

One of the most stripped-down albums from legendary jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby — and one of her earliest records too! The set's got Dorothy right out front in a trio setting — working with bassist Herman Wright and drummer John Tooley — in a wonderfully jazzy take on the sound of the harp — an instrument used here in a way that's never flowery, or linked to classical modes at all — but instead in a very unique space that's somewhere between jazz bass and guitar — as Ashby plucks these hip notes with a very soulful vibe! The album's got a special Chess/Argo sort of vibe — one that really opens up Ashby's Detroit roots. Dorothy wrote two originals for the set — "John R" and "Booze" — and other titles include "Lonely Melody", "Django", "Gloomy Sunday", and "Lil Darlin". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Lonely Melody

(Arr. O. McLaughlin)

2 - Secret Love

(Webster, Fain)

3 - Gloomy Sunday

(Seres, Javor, Lewis)

4 - Satin Doll

(Ellington)

5 John R.

(D. Ashby)

Side 2

6 - Li'l Darlin'

(Neal Hefti)

7 - Booze

(D. Ashby)

8 - Django

(J. Lewis)

9 - You Stepped Out Of A Dream

(Lane, Washington)

10 - Stranger In Paradise

(Wright, Forrest)

Dorothy Ashby  (harp), Herman Wright (bass), John Tooley (drums).

Recorded at Ter-Mar Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois, August 8, 1961