Dorothy Ashby (born August 6, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan, died April 13, 1986 in Santa Monica, California) was an African American jazz harpist and composer. August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: Motor City, Motown, D-Town, The D, The Renaissance City, Detroit Rock City Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (Latin for, We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes) Location Location in Wayne County, Michigan Coordinates: , Government Country State County United States Michigan Wayne County... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location Location of Santa Monica in California and Los Angeles County Coordinates , Government Country State County United States California Los Angeles Incorporated November 30, 1886 City Council Bobby Shriver Robert Holbrook (mayor) Ken Genser Kevin McKeown Herb Katz Pam OConnor Richard Bloom Geographical characteristics Area     City 41. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans. ... Harp is also a slang term for the diatonic harmonica. ...

Critic Scott Yannow writes, "There have been very few jazz harpists in history and Dorothy Ashby was one of the greats. Somehow she was able to play credible bebop on her instrument." [1] There had been jazz harpists prior to Ashby, but no one else had adapted the harp to jazz so successfully nor had integrated into such a broad array of musical styles. Her influence certainly opened doors for later jazz harpists like Deborah Henson-Conant. Bebop or bop is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody. ... Deborah Henson-Conant and her Camac electric harp. ...

Biography

Born Dorothy Jeanne Thompson, she grew up around music in Detroit where her father, guitarist Wiley Thompson, often brought home fellow jazz musicians. Even as a young girl, Dorothy would provide support and background to their music by playing the piano. She attended Cass Technical High School where fellow students included such future musical talents and jazz greats as Donald Byrd, Gerald Wilson, and Kenny Burrell. While in high school she played a number of instruments (including the saxophone and string bass) before coming upon the harp. A baby grand piano, with the lid up. ... Donaldson Toussaint LOuverture Byrd II (born December 9, 1932) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter, born in Detroit, Michigan. ... THE MAN Kenneth Earl Burrell (born 1931) is an American jazz guitarist. ... Saxophones of different sizes play in different registers. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

She attended Wayne State University in Detroit where she studied piano and music education. After she graduated, she began playing the piano in the jazz scene in Detroit, though by 1952 she had made the harp her main instrument. At first her fellow jazz musicians were resistant to the idea of adding the harp, which they perceived as an instrument of classical music and also somewhat ethereal in sound, into jazz performances. So Ashby overcame their initial resistance and built up support for the harp as a jazz instrument by organizing free shows and playing at dances and weddings with her trio. She recorded with Richard Davis, Jimmy Cobb, Frank Wess and others in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During the 1960s, she also had her own radio show in Detroit. // Introduction and overview Wayne State University, located in Detroit, Michigan, in the citys Cultural Center, part of the larger Midtown area. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Richard Davis (born April 15, 1930) is an American double bass player who has been a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1977, after establishing himself for twenty-three years in New York City. ... Jimmy Cobb (born January 20, 1929 in Washington D.C.) is an American jazz drummer. ... Frank Wess (born January 4, 1922 in Kansas City) is an American jazz musician, who has played saxophone (both alto and tenor) and flute. ...

Ashby's trio including her husband John Ashby on drums and they regularly toured the country, recording albums for several different record labels. She played with Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman, among others. In 1962 Downbeat magazine's annual poll of best jazz performers included Ashby. Extending her range of interests and talents, she also worked with her husband on a theater company, the Ashby Players, which her husband founded in Detroit, and for which Dorothy often wrote the scores. For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... Louis Daniel Armstrong (July 4, 1900[1] – July 6, 1971) (also known by the nicknames Satchmo for satchel-mouth and Pops) was an American jazz musician. ... Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913–October 29, 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and Big band leader. ... Downbeat can have several meanings: // In Music Theory In music performance and music theory, the downbeat is also the first beat of a measure in music. ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed...

In the late 1960s, the Ashbys gave up touring and settled in California where Dorothy broke into the studio recording system as a harpist through the help of the soul singer Bill Withers, who recommended her to Stevie Wonder. As a result, Dorothy was called upon for a number of studio sessions playing for such popular recording artists as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Barry Manilow. Her harp playing is featured in the song "Come Live With Me' which is on the soundtrack for the 1967 movie, Valley of the Dolls. One of her more noteworthy performances in contemporary popular music was playing the harp on the song "If It's Magic" on Stevie Wonder's 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Harp is also a slang term for the diatonic harmonica. ... Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia) is an American singer-songwriter who performed and recorded from the late 1960s until the mid 1980s. ... ← Stevie Wonder is the stage name of Steveland Morris (born May 13, 1950 as Steveland Judkins[1]), an American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist. ... Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey, as Marie Dionne Warrick) is an American singer best known for her work with Hal David and Burt Bacharach as songwriters and producers. ... This article is about the American musician. ... Earth, Wind & Fire is an American funk band, formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. ... Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus in Brooklyn, New York on June 17, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter best known for his hit recordings I Write The Songs, Mandy and Copacabana (At The Copa). Manilow dominated the charts for much of the 1970s with a string... Valley of the Dolls is the title of a best selling novel by Jacqueline Susann, published in 1966, and the Hollywood film which followed it in 1967. ... Songs in the Key of Life is a landmark album by Stevie Wonder, released on September 28, 1976 (see 1976 in music). ...

Her albums include The Jazz Harpist, In a Minor Groove, Hip Harp, Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby with (Junior Mance), Django/Misty, Concerto De Aranjuez, Afro Harping, Dorothy's Harp, The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby, and Music for Beautiful People. Between 1956-1970, she recorded 10 albums for such labels as Savoy, Cadet, Prestige, New Jazz, Argo, Jazzland and Atlantic. On her "Rubaiyat" album, Ashby played the Japanese musical instrument, the koto, demonstrating her talents on another instrument, and succesfully integrating it into jazz. Masayo Ishigure plays the koto The koto (Japanese: 箏) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from Japan resembling a zither. ...

External Links

• Dorothy Ashby (biography from SpaceAgePop.com)