Dorothy Ashby With Strings Attached 1957-1965 180g 6LP Box Set

Michael Fremer Rated 9/10 Music, 9/10 Sound!

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"Imagine having been a Black female artist & innovator in the '60s. Imagine being a jazz musician with a focus on the concert harp. Oh, to be alive at that time...in music...in culture...in politics. This was Dorothy Ashby, and she was so much more than her musical output. She was a true visionary; her impact is still heard in many genres and eras of music, even today." - Brandee Younger

New Land are proud to present the first multi-disc box set from one of the most overlooked artists in jazz history: Dorothy Ashby. The six LPs contained within this lavish box set will give long-overdue retrospection to her early works from 1957 to 1965, a period that found her represented by some of jazz music's most important record labels: Regent, Prestige, Jazzland, Argo and Atlantic. The Jazz Harpist, Hip Harp with Frank Wess, In a Minor Groove with Frank Wess, Soft Winds: The Swinging Harp of Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby and The Fantastic Harp of Dorothy Ashby have been officially licensed with the full support of the Dorothy Ashby estate.

All albums were remastered and lacquers cut by the exceptional Kevin Gray directly from the original analog tapes except The Jazz Harpist and Dorothy Ashby from which the original tapes have unfortunately been lost. Manufacturing has been handled by Pallas and all albums have been pressed on 180gm black vinyl and housed inside thick reverse-board sleeves.

At the center of this package is a 44-page book featuring a foreword from Grammy-nominated harpist Brandee Younger. Impassioned and deeply researched liner notes by Shannon J. Effinger provide historical context to Dorothy's life, offering the most in-depth piece of writing ever committed to print on Dorothy as well as interviews with those that knew her best.

Housed inside a deluxe bookshelf-style box with stunning silver-foil detail.

This is 'drawing room' cool jazz that Modern Jazz Quartet lovers will definitely dig (Ashby's take on John Lewis's classic 'Django' on her eponymous album is sure to please). Ashby swings in an understated way like Lewis and on these albums is accompanied by many rhythm greats including Ed Thigpen, Roy Haynes, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb and Grady Tate. These are most definitely not arrangements filled with 'you are entering heaven' glissandos! Ashby's playing swings throughout, is never over-adorned, and especially never veers into musical kitsch, something the instrument can lend itself to in the wrong hands. Whether playing covers or originals, Ashby's playing is understated, economical and precise, yet she never loses site of that need to smoothly swing.

With Strings Attached, 1957-1965 is a diligent retrospective of the early work of one of jazz's underappreciated talents.