Plundered for samples by many a hip-hop artist, ranging from Pete Rock and CL Smooth to Flying Lotus, Dorothy Ashby’s Afro-Harping is a cult classic that in its rare original vinyl format often exchanges hands for eye-watering three-figure sums. Recorded in 1968 under the aegis of noted producer/arranger Richard Evans, Afro-Harping was Ashby’s eighth album in a recording career that began eleven years earlier with The Jazz Harpist. Originally from Detroit, where she was born Dorothy Jeanne Thompson in 1932, Ashby was a classically trained musician who in the late-1950s proved the harp could be taken seriously as a viable instrument for improvisation in a jazz context. After several albums for a variety of different record labels, she landed at Cadet, the jazz imprint of Chicago’s Chess Records that until 1965 had been known as Argo. With the help of Evans, Cadet’s skilled in-house arranger/producer, she created her finest work, Afro-Harping, which is reissued in an expanded deluxe format by Universal.
Very much of its time, Afro-Harping is a groovy, easy-listening album whose repertoire reflects the musical sensibilities of the late ‘60s. While reflecting Ashby’s nimble-fingered virtuosity and unique jazz concept, it also attests to the genius of arranger Richard Evans. He provides imaginative settings for Ashby’s harp, framing it with some stunning arrangements. He even wrote the set’s haunting, trippy opener, ‘Soul Vibrations,’ where eerie theremin notes and tremolo strings hover over a martial backbeat. Ashby, herself, composed three numbers, including the undulating bossa nova-flavoured ‘Games’ and purposeful, bass-driven ‘Action Line.’ She also collaborated with session guitarist Phil Upchurch to write the album’s title track, a funkafied soul-tinged ensemble piece propelled by a Motown-esque backbeat.
The remainder of the album is fleshed out with cover versions, some of them ‘60s pop hits, like Bobby Vinton’s Neal Hefti-penned ‘Lonely Girl,’ Dionne Warwick’s ‘(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls,’ and Dusty Springfield’s Bacharach-David-written ‘The Look Of Love.’ Best of all, though, is a gorgeous take on jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s classic ‘Little Sunflower.’
Guaranteeing that this particular reissue is more interesting than any previous iterations, this new reissue contains eight previously unissued bonus tracks, all alternate takes sprinkled with some studio chatter, many of which are longer than the released versions. By far the best is an epic rendition of ‘Little Sunflower,’ which is twice the length of the album version, running to almost seven minutes.
Brilliantly mixed and remastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios from the original ¼” master tapes, the album, which is available as a deluxe double LP and as a single digipak CD,
is also beautifully packaged and bolstered with an informative, in-depth essay by Shindig! Magazine’s Seán Casey. Though Ashby is long gone – she died in 1986 aged just 53 – her influence is still alive in the work of contemporary harpist, Brandee Younger. Though largely unknown to 21st-century audiences, this fabulous reissue is a timely reminder of her pioneering genius.
Afro-Harping is released on 27th September.
(CW) 4/5
