DESCRIPTION:
Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1930 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist and composer. Ashby extended the popularization of jazz harp past a novelty, showing how the instrument can be utilized seamlessly as much a bebop instrument as the saxophone. Her albums were of the jazz genre, but often moved into R&B, world and other musics, especially on her 1970 album The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby, where she demonstrates her talents on another instrument, the Japanese koto, successfully integrating it into jazz.