Results for "Dorothy Ashby"

Dorothy Ashby

Born: August 6, 1932

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. 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. Ashby's trio, including her husband John Ashby on drums, regularly toured the country, recording albums for several different record labels. She played with Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman, among others.

Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Jazz - Part 2

by Ludovico Granvassu
September 27, 2026

Stevie Wonder's cult classic may not be a jazz album, but its jazz connections run deep--from Herbie Hancock, Dorothy Ashby, George Benson, Glenn Ferris, and Bobbi Humphrey involved in its recording to Alice Coltrane, Chick Corea, Quincy Jones, David Sanborn, and Lenny White among the influences acknowledged in the liner notes. No wonder its songs have ...

New Reissue Series Offers A First-Class Ticket To Moodsville

by Joshua Weiner
September 22, 2026

With the rise of consumer culture in the 1950s and 1960s, hi-fi systems on which to play newly available stereo records became de rigueur for those who aspired to sophisticated leisure time. A wide variety of “mood music" albums, from classical to exotica to jazz, promised the perfect soundtrack for any emotional state or social gathering. ...

Shirley Bassey, Yoko Miwa & Mikayla Shirley, Haruna Fukazawa

by Cheryl K.
September 3, 2026

During this week's two-hour program of jazz and improvised music--vocalists Shirley Bassey, Stella Cole, and Cécile McLorin Salvant; vocalist Mikayla Shirley and pianist Yoko Miwa; vibraphonists Warren Wolf and Stefon Harris; flutist and improviser Haruna Fukazawa; pianist/composer/multi-instrumentalist Skinny Hightower; the Eclectic Maybe Band; whistle/sax/bagpipe player Fraser Fifield; and two selections featuring saxophonist Miguel Zenón.Playlist ...

Yoron Israel, Haruna Fukazawa, Somi, Jim Donica, Visions Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Leos Abbey Lincoln, Dorothy Ashby & More

by Mary Foster Conklin
August 17, 2026

This broadcast includes new music from Yoron Israel, Haruna Fukazawa, Somi, Jim Donica, Visions Jazz Ensemble, plus birthday shoutouts to Abbey Lincoln, Dorothy Ashby, Jeri Southern (100!), Baby Jane Dexter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jenny Klukken, Linda Dachtyl, Kat Edmonson, Regina Carter and Honorable Man Louis Armstrong, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you ...

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal 2026

by Mark Sullivan
July 16, 2026

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Various Venues Montreal, Canada June 30-July 4, 2026 The 46th edition of the Festival presented over 350 shows, two-thirds of which were free. The festival organizing team highlighted performances by legendary jazz-funk band The Headhunters, the Charles Lloyd Quartet, St. Vincent Symphonique (a series of ...

Brandee Younger at the Music Center at Strathmore

by Mark Edelman
July 10, 2026

Brandee Younger Music Center at Strathmore North Bethesda, MD June 11, 2026 Cecil McLorin Salvant's return to this North Bethesda citadel of great music was a much-anticipated DC jazz event, especially since the demise of the Kennedy Center's esteemed program. It turns out the most memorable part of the gig for ...

Andrés Coll: Ride to Heaven

by Artur Moral
April 17, 2026

Some instruments can come across as far removed from the jazz orbit--especially when we think of them as vehicles for a soloist's showcase. Yet a number of resolute experimenters have worked hard to prove otherwise, with commendable skill. Among others, such is the case with Dorothy Ashby on harp, Julius Watkins on French horn and Garvin ...

Brandee Younger: Gadabout Season

by Angelo Leonardi
December 12, 2025

Dopo venticinque anni d'attività professionale, l'arpista Brandee Younger è balzata recentemente all'attenzione generale con accattivanti album e una nomination al Grammy Awards. L'improvviso successo non le ha dato alla testa e Brandee non sembra voler annacquare la sua musica con quelle leggerezze pop che coesistevano in qualche brano. In quest'ultimo album--prodotto dal bassista Rashaan Carter--collabora con ...

Best of the Best: Jazz From Detroit

by Paul Rauch
December 1, 2025

Best of the Best: Jazz From DetroitMagic Circle Productions LLC2025   The history of jazz music is told in hundreds of cities from coast to coast in America. From the cradle in New Orleans and the Mississippi River delta, the great migration of Black Americans northward spread the sounds that we know ...