Afro-Harping [Deluxe Edition]

by Dorothy Ashby

Overview

Of the 11 albums released during her lifetime, Dorothy Ashby's Afro-Harping holds a distinct yet undercelebrated place in the jazz canon. Her earlier recordings were steeped in the language of bop and hard bop, while Afro-Harping, the first of her three albums for Cadet, emerged at the intersection of soul, blues, funk, pop, hard bop, and crossover classical. Produced by the legendary arranger Richard Evans, it fit Cadet's '60s aesthetic in juxtaposing, combining, and reframing boundaries between musical genres. The label struck paydirt with its previous experiments, like Rotary Connection's eponymous debut album mashing together soul and psychedelia, and Muddy Waters' own collab with Rotary Connection on Electric Mud. Afro-Harping sounds like an Evans production, since he also arranged and conducted its string, brass, and reed ensembles, as well as Theremins, guitars, basses, and keys. Its layered percussion and polyrhythms underscore lush textures that move Ashby's signature lyricism in the foreground. Evans' "Soul Vibrations" opens the set. First released as a single, it got decent airplay in Chicago, Detroit, and Memphis. An exercise in string-drenched soul wed to cinema music, Ashby solos inside and around the rhythm section, adding single-line vamps to highlight the beat, and her solo is dazzling. "Games," by contrast, weds flute to harp up front as the rhythm section walks a loopy line between samba and Cuban mambo. The cover of Neal Hefti's "Lonely Girl" is fueled by an uptempo Latin rhythm and stretched to meet bossa and pop in Ashby's comping and solo. The title track was composed by the harpist and guitarist Phil Upchurch. Its intro bass and drum groove is attended by flute, guitar, and mellifluous harp inside a driving funk frame. Ashby solos first and sets the pace for flute, organ, and her second solo in closing. It's followed by the sensual atmospherics of Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower." The interplay between electric guitar, bass, harp, and hand percussion is colorful, sunny, and almost exotic. The set closes with Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love" (another reading by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 was a global smash) rendered with harp and melodica atop a string section fueled by a syncopated funk backbeat that offers rhythmic and textural contrast as Ashby digs into a modal groove in her solo framed by cascading hand drums. Of all of her recordings, Afro-Harping has been the most reissued, influential, and consistently available title in her catalog. It has influenced a slew of 21st century jazz harpists including Brandee Younger (who paid Ashby tribute and covered her tunes on Brand New Life), Alina Bzhezhinska (her band, Hip Harp, is named after an early Ashby album), Edmar Castaneda, and Amanda Whiting among them. [Verve's Deluxe Edition includes eight alternate takes with beautifully extended versions of "Afro-Harping" and "Little Sunflower." They reveal the depth of the nearly symbiotic creative collaboration between Ashby and Evans. Further, a copiously annotated 28-page booklet contains photos and a historical essay by Seán Casey of Shindig! Magazine that seeks a more representative place in jazz history given the album's recording sessions and lasting cultural import.] ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	09/20/2024
Label:	Decca
UPC:	0600753997574

Tracks

1. Soul Vibrations
2. Games
3. Action Line
4. Lonely Girl
5. Life Has Its Trials
6. Afro-Harping
7. Little Sunflower
8. Theme From Valley of the Dolls
9. Come Live With Me
10. The Look of Love
11. Action Line [Master A, Take 2]
12. Afro-Harping [Alt. Take]
13. Theme From Valley of the Dolls [Master B, Take 2]
14. Lonely Girl [Master G, Take 1]
15. Soul Vibrations [Alt. Take]
16. Life Has Its Trials [Master C, Take 2]
17. Little Sunflower [Master F, Take 3]
18. Theme From Valley of the Dolls [Master B, Take 6]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dorothy Ashby   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harp
Lenny Druss   Piccolo,Flute,Oboe
Odell Brown   Piano
Stu Katz   Vibraphone
Richard Evans   Conductor

Technical Credits

Richard Evans   Producer,Arranger,Composer,Recording Arranger
Andre Previn   Composer
Kevin Reeves   Mastering
Sherniece Smith   Art Producer
Don Bronstein   Cover Photo
Dorothy Ashby   Composer
Brian Blackburn   Composer
Phil Upchurch   Composer
Neal Hefti   Composer
Mark Smith   Production Assistant
Michel Legrand   Composer
Ray Evans   Composer
Redd Evans   Composer
Bryan Koniarz   Producer
Burt Bacharach   Composer
Hollis King   Art Direction
Jimmy Webb   Composer
Andre Popp   Composer
Ken Druker   Executive Producer
Hal David   Composer
Freddie Hubbard   Composer
Dory Previn   Composer
Doug Brand   Engineer
Jay Livingston   Composer
Jerry Livingston   Composer
Stu Black   Engineer
Dave Purple   Engineer
Del Shields   Liner Notes
Jerry Griffith   Design
Dick Lapalm   Supervisor