For Black History MonthI wanted to pay homage to American jazz-harpist, Dorothy Ashby (1932-1986).
Although she’s been praised as the “most accomplished modern jazz-harpist”, Dorthy was criminally underrated in her time. Reflecting on her career in 1983 she said, “It’s been maybe a triple burden in that not a lot of women are becoming known as jazz players. There is also the connection with black women. The audiences I was trying to reach were not interested in the harp, classical or otherwise-and they were certainly not interested in seeing a black woman playing the harp.” (Living the Jazz Life, 2000)
Nevertheless, haters couldn’t stop her motion and she overcame many obstacles, going on to redefine the musical possibilities of the harp and expand the jazz genre.
If you’re interested in exploring Dorothy’s music, I recommend starting with her album, Afro-Harping
