Hidden Figures: Dorothy Ashby #BlackHERstoryMonth 8/29 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Dorothy Ashby #BlackHERstoryMonth 8/29

Jazz harpist and composer Dorothy Ashby released 11 solo jazz albums and is credited with popularizing the harp as a jazz instrument as well as modernizing it for the contemporary era. Born Dorothy Jeanne Thompson in Detroit, Michigan, on August 6, 1932, Ashby was the daughter of self-taught guitarist Wiley Thompson, and was raised in the jazz community. She learned piano and guitar from her father at home; Ashby also attended Cass Technical High School, known for its legendary music program, where she played bass and string saxophone. After high school, she attended Wayne State University, studying vocal technique and playing the harp in the student orchestra, as well as giving piano recitals where she sang folk songs. In 1952, Ashby purchased her first harp and made her professional debut as a jazz harpist at a night club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Up until then, the harp had primarily been used in orchestras playing classical music, and Ashby was a groundbreaking pioneer in introducing the instrument to more casual audiences. Ashby performed at dances, parties, weddings, and free concerts, releasing several albums and also working in nightclubs throughout the 1950s. She also gave special concerts in public schools to introduce classical music to Detroit public school students. By the early 1960s she had married John Ashby and had an established career: she hosted a jazz interview show on a local radio station, performed with Louis Armstrong, and was named an “All Star” jazz performer by Down Beat jazz magazine in 1962. She released five more albums in the 60s, including ‘Afro-Harping’ of 1968, which was hugely influential to subsequent Black jazz harpists. With her husband, Ashby founded The Ashby Players, a performance troupe that showcased Black American dramas in Detroit and Canada, giving many Black actors such as Ernie Hudson early experience. For many of the pieces performed by The Ashby Players, John wrote the scripts and Dorothy supplied the music, and many of the plots were around ideas that were considered taboo despite their impact on the Black community, such as welfare and abortion. Ashby toured in a trio with her husband, a drummer, until the late 1960s when she relocated to Los Angeles, California to focus solely on studio recordings. In the 1970s and 80s, Ashby recorded music with artists like Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, Bobby Womack, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Rick James, the Gap Band and Stevie Wonder. She released her last two albums in 1984, both of which included compositions by Thelonious Monk. Dorothy Ashby died of cancer in Santa Monica, California, on April 13, 1986, at the age of 53. In addition to her popularizing and modernizing the ethereal harp as a rollicking jazz instrument, Ashby’s 1968 album Afro-Harp was seen as directly influenced by the Black Power movement, and incorporated bop, soul, Brazilian, and Middle Eastern influences, along with experimental free jazz. Ashby pioneered the use of the Japanese koto in jazz on her 1970 album The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby, which is also seen as influential in its use of soul, world music and free jazz. #DorothyAshby #HiddenFigures ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: 'Dorothy Ashby and a Harp That Swings:' https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6488979 'Remembering Dorothy Ashby, the Detroit Pioneer Who Introduced the Harp to Jazz:' https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2018/05/dorothy-ashby-detroit-harp-pioneer 'Dorothy Ashby, the jazz harpist who blurred the edges:' https://www.pilotonline.com/entertainment/columns/article_23ff3716-e7b7-55ee-abc7-dd54efa9a699.html DOROTHY ASHBY: http://www.wefunkradio.com/song/play/424_ax/dorothy+ashby/cause+i+need+it Dorothy Ashby: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dorothy-ashby-mn0000159274/biography Dorothy Ashby - Dorothy's Harp: https://lightintheattic.net/releases/3725-dorothy-s-harp Unsung Women of Jazz – Dorothy Ashby: https://www.thejazzarts.org/blog/unsung-women-of-jazz-dorothy-ashby/ Jazz harpist and composer Dorothy Ashby: http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2018/jun/14/jazz-harpist-and-composer-dorothy-ashby/ DOROTHY ASHBY (1932-1986): https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/ashby-dorothy-1932-1986/ Dorothy Ashby (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Ashby