In A Minor Groove [Clear/Red/Green/Purple Swirl Vinyl LP]

Dorothy Ashby & Frank Wess - In A Minor Groove [Clear/Red/Green/Purple Swirl Vinyl LP]

Dorothy Ashby was probably the greatest — and certainly the most swinging — jazz harpist of all time, re-purposing an instrument best known for ethereal glissandos into a fully versatile voice in combo settings, capable of providing both instrumental embroidery and rhythmic drive. In A Minor Groove is one of two albums she made in 1958 with flautist/saxophonist Frank Wess, and it is a marvel; backed by fellow Detroit native Herman Wright on bass and the great Roy Haynes on drums, she and Wess weave mesmerizing melodic threads through standards like "Alone Together" and "Yesterdays." Perhaps the most amazing track is "Bohemia After Dark," which displays Ashby's uncanny ability to turn her harp into a rhythm guitar.

For this reissue, the original mono sources are used — not the rechanneled stereo and jumbled track listing that showed up on later repackaging. Original album art with Ira Gitler's sleeve notes, pressed in clear with red, green, and purple swirl vinyl to match the sonic palette of this classic.