Soul-Jazz Harp/Zither/Koto
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Harp goes back a fairly long way in jazz, all the way to Oscar Reardon with the Jack Teagarden Octet of 1934. Duke Ellington added Betty Glamann to his orchestra, and several other ladies made "swing harp" more than a novelty. The leading harpist in the 1950s was Dorothy Ashby, who later made a couple of the most coveted soul-jazz rarities for the Cadet label. Her European counterpart in hip, soul-jazz harp was Jonny Teupen (sometimes spelled "Johnny"). There are those who have heard some Dorothy Ashby and say they just don't "get it." First, the heyday of swing harp was the 1950s, when a weirdbeard like Fred Katz could take Harpo Marx under his wing. And jazzbos took the Downbeat poll seriously when it asked for "best jazz harpist." The only soul jazz is found on Ashby's later Atlantic and Cadet records and spottily on Teupen's European-only releases. Of these, The Rubaiyet of Dorothy Ashby is the best, primarily because she also plays the koto. While not especially "funky," it is great, exotic, unique, beautiful stuff. Buying: Harp generally is harder to find the later it is. Avoid Corky Hale's atrocious disco LP. |
Soul Jazz Harp LPs
| Rating | |
| Dorothy Ashby: Jazz Harpist; Regent 6039 | |
| 7 | Dorothy Ashby w/Frank Wess: Hip Harp; Prestige 7140 |
| 7 | Dorothy Ashby: Soft Winds; Jazzland JLP-961; 1961 |
| 7 | Dorothy Ashby: In a Minor Groove; Prestige/New Jazz 8209 (Plays For Beautiful People; Prestige PRST-7639; 1969) |
| Dorothy Ashby: The Best of; Prestige PR-7638 | |
| 8 | Dorothy Ashby: The Fantastic Jazz Harp of; Atlantic SD-1447; 1966/1965 |
| 9 | Dorothy Ashby: Afro-Harpin'; Cadet; 1968 (w/Richard Evans; Chess CH-9164; 1984) |
| 7 | Dorothy Ashby: Dorothy's Harp; Cadet LPS-825; 1969 (w/Richard Evans) |
| 9 | Dorothy Ashby: The Rubaiyet of; Cadet LPS-841; 1970/1969-70 |
| 6 | Betty Glamann: Swinging on a Harp; Mercury MG-20169 |
| 7 | Corky Hale: [Gene Norman Presents] Corky Hale; GNP Crescendo GNP-17 |
| 2 | Corky Hale: Harp Beat; Stash 245 (disco harp) |
| 6 | The Daphne Hellman Quartet: Holiday for Harp; Columbia/Harmony HL-7167 (mostly pop) |
| 7 | Jonny Teupen: Harpadelic; MPS; 1969 |
| 7 | Jonny Teupen & his Group: Never Gonna Be a Sky-Scraper/Waltzing Harp; Selected Sound 9013 (production; A-side w/J.A. Rettenbacher on organ & bass) |
Partly Soul-Jazz Harp LPs
| Rating | |
| 8 | Mark Duval & his Music; Chappell LPC-1052; 1972 ("Breakaway"; production) |
| 8 | Norman Habel/Richard Koehneke: For Mature Adults Only..; Fortress Records/MosAnn Enterprises/Bob Mosley BM-768; 1968 (spoken w/music; w/Corky Hale--harp & voice, Joe Newman, Eric Gale, Chuck Rainey, Martin Luther High School Choir..; soul-jazz vocal, funky gospel, harp, kid funk, sex ed, strange religion) |
| 7 | Bobbye Hall: Body Language for Lovers; 20th Century T-534; 1977 (w/Dorothy Ashby) |
| Harvey Mason: Funk in a Mason Jar; Arista 4157 (w/Dorothy Ashby) | |
| 8 | The Soulful Strings: The Magic of Christmas; Cadet LPS-814; 1968 (w/Dorothy Ashby) |
| 7 | Various: Bosworth Backgrounds: Modern Rhythm; Bosworth BLP-109; 1969 (production; w/Jonny Teupen & his Swinging Harp Group) |
| 9 | Various: Trunk Presents the Super Sounds of Bosworth; Barked 1; 1996 (production; Jonny Teupen Group: "Tropical Scene") |
Hyp Records is a 3-part guide:
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