Dorothy Ashby - The Rubáiyát of Dorothy Ashby

2025-06-15

Dorothy Ashby was among the first to use the harp in jazz way back in the late ’50s. Over time, her musical escapades grew more experimental and took inspiration from traditional music from all around the world. On this album, apart from her virtuosic jazz harp playing, we encounter some (arguably less virtuosic) koto playing, dramatic spoken word, Latino rhythms and grooves, oftentimes mixed with American soul/funk à la Motown. Sometimes veering into the delightful trippy, like the intro to The Moving Finger, and other times staying pretty vanilla big-band-ish swing/jazz. It is a wild album.

Listen

• The Moving Finger: https://youtu.be/72cb7hnbVvg
• For Some We Loved: https://youtu.be/NQqqnawSp0s

Links

• Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/master/59832-Dorothy-Ashby-The-Rub%C3%A1iy%C3%A1t-Of-Dorothy-Ashby
• Streaming (multiple platforms): https://tidal.com/browse/album/130194774?u