"Put a glide in your stride and a dip in your hip, and come on up to the Mothership." (To quote the immortal words of Brother George Clinton.) That's where you'll find celestial harpist Dorothy Ashby.
This one goes out to Benjamin, David, Ciara, and all the good folks at the Duckrabbit blog.
Dorothy Ashby, "Soul Vibrations, from her 1968 album Afro-Harping.
A few years ago, National Public Radio called Ashby, who died in 1986, "one of the most unjustly under-loved jazz greats of the 1950s." It went on to say that "...anyone who can make a massive instrument like the concert harp dance — and use it to swing in such a cool, low-key way — deserves to be more than a footnote." You can read more about her, here.
Dorothy Ashby - yeah! Years ago at an outdoor festival in Santa Monica I saw Ashby perform with the kora player Foday Sosa,a tabla player whose name I don't recall, and the electric bassist Alfonso Johnson. The pick up ensemble never quite gelled but they were moments of brilliance and the musicians seemed to be having fun with Ashby presiding as a den mother of sorts.
Posted by: ekapa | 14 January 2011 at 01:33 PM
Aaaaw shucks John...THANKS. Beautiful.
Posted by: Dave White | 14 January 2011 at 02:31 PM