Dorothy Ashby: The Jazz Harpist
The Jazz Harpist was Dorothy Ashby’s debut album. Widely regarded as one of her best it was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at his Hackensack studio in New Jersey, produced by Ozzie Cadena and originally released on the Regent label in 1957. This vinyl-only reissue contains four bonus tracks taken from a session nearly a year and a half later with a different rhythm section. These extra tracks, There’s A Small Hotel, Back Talk, Charmaine and Dancing In The Dark, were taken from her follow-up album Hip Harp (Prestige, 1958) again recorded by Van Gelder and produced by label owner Bob Weinstock.
In common with most of Ashby’s albums The Jazz Harpist was populated with a fair number of standards. But on this augmented WaxTime reissue Ashby penned five of the 11 tracks. The most striking thing about the album is the way flautist Frank Wess is deployed to sketch out the melody of each song, leaving Ashby in an initially accompanying position. Wess played on Ashby’s first three albums up until and including In A Minor Groove (New Jazz, 1958). So perfectly does this quartet gel that it takes a few seconds to realise that on the opener, Thou Swell, the accompanying chords to Frank Wess’s lithe flute are played on a harp. By the second tune, Stella By Starlight, Ashby is heard more prominently, her harp cascading swathes of dreamy notes.
In addition to being Ashby’s first outing as leader, The Jazz Harpist firmly established her as the prime instigator of this rarely heard instrument in jazz. Wess’s comparatively ebullient playing perfectly complemented Ashby’s more reflective harp work and their chemistry was evident throughout and especially on effervescent numbers like her Aeolian Groove. Such is Ashby’s confidence that on the breezy Rodgers and Hart tune There’s A Small Hotel she is able to insert a chunky quote from Jimmy Van Heusen’s Swinging On A Star. Ashby’s Latin-tinged Lamentation demonstrates that her own imaginative and effective compositions were equal to her virtuosity on the harp. She recorded a dozen albums as leader concluding with a solo recording Concierto De Aranjuez (Philips, 1984) two years before her untimely death from cancer in 1986 aged 53.
Discography
(1) Thou Swell; Stella By Starlight; (2) Dancing On The Ceiling; (1) Aeolian Groove; (3) There’s A Small Hotel (24.42) – (1) Quietude; (2) Spicy; Lamentation; (3) Back Talk; Charmaine; Dancing In The Dark (24.23)
(1) Ashby (hp); Frank Wess (f); Ed Thigpen (d); Eddie Jones (b). New Jersey, 29 August 1956.
(2) as (1) but Wendell Marshall replaces Jones. NJ, 27 August 1956.
(3) as (1) but Jones, Marshall and Thigpen replaced by Herman Wright (b) and Art Taylor (d). NJ, 21 March 1958.
WaxTime Records 772383
Cindy Blackman Santana: Coherence
Cindy Blackman Santana’s Coherence receives a multi-format release but the vinyl record contains only 11 tracks whereas the CD and digital download boast 17 tracks, maxing out the disc’s circa 80-minute capacity. One of Blackman Santana’s key influences was the late Tony Williams and this admiration was reflected in her supergroup paean to Williams in the form of Spectrum Road (Palmetto Records, 2012) which also featured John Medeski, Vernon Reid and Jack Bruce (the latter appearing on Williams’ seminal Lifetime album Turn It Over (Polydor, 1970). This followed her previous homage to Williams with Another Lifetime (4Q, 2010) with Reid and others.
The opener, Illumination, has a persistently earwormy thematic intro, enhanced by Blackman Santana’s tumultuous drumming, ensuring it is firmly burned into the listener’s memory bank. Various personnel populate this prodigiously executed affair, the probable contender for one of its highlights being the appropriately named Guitar Love (included on the vinyl) featuring her husband Carlos Santana (whom she married in 2010) and John McLaughlin, revisiting their various collaborations including one live date earlier this century, Invitation To Illumination Live At Montreux 2011 (Eagle Records, 2015) with Blackman Santana on drums. McLaughlin’s fleet-footed playing is unmistakable but at times the two guitarists’ echo-laden sounds meld into one.
Blackman Santana’s drumming is spectacular throughout and in addition to Williams’ influence, her drumming is occasionally reminiscent of Billy Cobham’s in its unbridled power. Some prime examples are Blue Whale, with its surgically precise snare work, and the equally rumbustious Psychedelic Movie House and Sanctuary. Carlos Santana appears on six numbers, among which the title track has him channelling Jimi Hendrix, deploying wailing high notes and wah-wah pedal. Santana also features on Capri, where his guitar exudes sensitivity and soulfulness, intermittently duetting with Emilio Modeste on lithe soprano saxophone.
Blackman Santana is also heard voicing some spoken words on the two very brief tracks (each under a minute) Coherence Tapestry and The Coherence Embrace but unlike Williams she doesn’t attempt singing. Not all the tunes are high octane: Soon A Queen is more restrained and reflective. Blackman’s ability to conquer both jazz and rock in equal measure is apparent in the bluesy rocker Sunday, which showcases the stellar guitar work of Aurelien Budynek before leading into the laid-back jazz of Music, led by Felix Pastorius on bass guitar with Zacca Curtis on keyboard plus Budynek and Modeste also in tow.
Discography
Illumination; Blue Whale; The Message Is Love; Coherence Tapestry; Coherence; Coherence Embrace; Peace Please; Psychedelic Movie House; Guitar Love; Capri; SyZyGy; Circe; Eclipse; Soon A Queen; Sunday; Music; Sanctuary (79.56)
Blackman Santana (d, v); Emilio Modeste (ts, ss); Zaccai Curtis (kyb); Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, Aurelien Budynek (elg); Felix Pastorius (elb) and others. Las Vegas & Monaco, 2024.
Mack Avenue MAC1246
Kwella & Stowell: The Room
In terms of sheer virtuosity, it would be difficult to tell guitarists Jens Christian Kwella and John Stowell apart. Kwella, who hails from Denmark, is an associate professor of rhythmic guitar at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and has been a professional guitarist for the past 40 years. Born in New York but now living in Portland, Oregon, John Stowell has released 20 albums, among which one, Petite Fleur (Origin, 2018), was a duo album with Dave Liebman. He has also toured extensively including artist-in-residence appointments in Germany, Indonesia, Argentina, Canada and the USA. Unusually, Stowell holds his guitar in a diagonally upright position (think Bill Wyman in the Rolling Stones) when playing both acoustic and solid electric instruments.
The set kicks off with Kwella’s breezy The Ugly Mark, opening with a bluesy feel but developing into a more complex affair with both guitarists sparring in equal measure. Stowell had already recorded a version of Kenny Wheeler’s elegant Kayak on his quartet album with Michael Zilber, Shot Through With Beauty (Origin Records, 2011). Here it’s necessarily sparser yet no less affecting. Among the album’s nine tracks are a handful of standards including Antonio Carlos Jobim’s timeless Brigas, Nunca Mais and a relaxed reading of Jimmy Van Heusen’s It Could Happen To You. The remaining numbers were all penned by Kwella including the ruminative ballad You Never Know and the gently affecting No Angels Here.
Discography
The Ugly Mark; Kayak; Sly: Brigas, Nunca Mais; View From The 4th Floor; Clarity; It Could Happen To You; You Never Know; No Angels Here (45.19)
Jens Christian Kwella, John Stowell (elg). Aalborg, Denmark, 9-10 October 2025.
Independent
