Dorothy Ashby – Come Live With Me

Over a career that spanned four decades, Dorothy Ashby championed the harp as an instrument with range far outside that of the classical repertoire. In her youth that meant exploring the instrument's capability to solo in bebop and modal jazz, but she would eventually delve into pop, and by the seventies, world music.

Early pressings of 1968's Afro–Harping can sell for hundreds of dollars in even shoddy condition, but for now at least it is available to stream. Although some of these tracks occasionally drift into easy listening territory, the best of the rest are solid soul grooves, and Ashby’s harp brings an almost exotic sense of wonder to the arrangements. The second to last song on the album, "Come Live With Me," is a standout.

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