The groove-heavy and soulful 1968 album Afro-Harping is set to see a deluxe reissue at the end of the month, reinvigorating the career of jazz legend Dorothy Ashby, who may not be a household name but this prolific artist has become highly influential in contemporary fusion, ambient, spiritual jazz and hip hop – with this album, in particular, being sampled by Kendrick Lamar, J Dilla, and Madlib to name a few. Afro-Harping is propulsive and mesmeric, blending glistening harp arrangements with dynamic African drums creating a dreamy and soulful space-age pop album. There’s a re-emergence of harp-based jazz and neo-classic music with wonderful artists like Mary Lattimore, Brandee Younger, and Nala Sinephro – which brings renewed interest in the innovators of the sound. I love discovering gems like this and seeing the cultural influence these albums have had across many decades and various genres.
Speaking of wonderful contemporary harpists, Asheville’s own Mary Lattimore will bring her shimmering hypnotic harp compositions to the APLR stage on Friday, December 27th. In support, the debut of a new collaborative duo featuring widely lauded Asheville-based composers and improvisationalists, Tashi Dorji and Mix Xiao-Fen. Tickets are available here!