Remembering Dorothy Ashby: The Hip Harpist

The pedal harp isn’t normally associated with jazz. A standard orchestra instrument in the music of the Romantic era, it was re-invented for jazz in the 1950s by the late, great Dorothy Ashby. One of the unsung jazz pioneers, she demonstrated the harp’s potential in a lead or solo jazz context. Suddenly, it was possible to listen to bebop played on this unlikeliest of instruments.