For a taste of the unique from the 1950s Modern Jazz scene, look no further than In a Minor Groove, the 1958 album from harpist Dorothy Ashby and flautist Frank Wess. And one needn’t look very far, as the set, originally released by the Prestige Records subsidiary New Jazz, has been freshly reissued on vinyl by the Real Gone label. Going back to the original mono source, it’s available now.
Today, Alice Coltrane is likely the most well-known jazz harpist, but from the 1950s through the early ’70s that distinction belonged to Dorothy Ashby. She initially worked in a post-bop mode; in short, the sound of In a Minor Groove, but eventually, she stretched into the realms of soul jazz and spiritual jazz, overlapping territory where Afro Harping (today probably her highest-profile LP) resides. Like Coltrane, Ashby was also a multi-instrumentalist, though unlike Alice, on record Ashby stuck to the harp.
And while the harp has yet to grow into a widespread jazz axe, Ashby’s recordings easily sidestepped the shallowness of novelty. Instead, like Hip Harp, which was released by Prestige earlier in 1958, In a Minor Groove drives home that Ashby was fluent in the language of bop, an expertise illustrated by her song selections for the album.
There are two originals, both by Ashby, the up-tempo cookers “Rascality” and “It’s a Minor Thing,” plus a handful of standards, including “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” (played at an appealingly brisk pace), “Yesterdays,” and closer “Alone Together” (both slower but effective showcases for Ashby’s string cascades).
“Autumn in Rome” is sprightlier as it highlights the jazz chops of the entire group. Likewise, there’s a solid Afro-Cuban excursion via the oft-recorded “Taboo” and an equally sturdy dive into bop rudiments with a version of the Oscar Pettiford composition “Bohemia After Dark,” both pieces requiring adept musicianship.
Furthermore, Ashby seemed to crave consistency in her groups. Along with Wess, who played on Hip Harp and The Jazz Harpist, her 1957 debut for Savoy subsidiary Regent, there’s bassist Herman Wright, who’s on Hip Harp, this LP, and Ashby’s next two, Soft Winds (for Jazzland) and Dorothy Ashby (for Argo), both issued in 1961. The drummer role did shift, but it was the excellent Art Taylor on Hip Harp and for this album, the unimpeachable Roy Haynes, whose cracking playing really puts “Taboo” over the top.
Although Wess is the credited co-leader for In a Minor Groove, it’s difficult not to think of it as Ashby’s LP, partly due to her pair of compositions, but mostly through the distinctiveness of her approach to the harp. Oh, she can do florid, no problem, but more importantly, she really swings the instrument, sounding at times like a guitarist, particularly in “Bohemia After Dark” (where Wright gets some worthy solo space) and in “Taboo.”
But don’t get the notion that Wess’ playing is second-rate or fades into the background. If Eric Dolphy is the king of jazz flautists, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk is the runner up, it’s fair to say Frank Wess is in the running for third place (no, I’m not forgetting about Yusef Lateef). This should establish that Wess never gets too precious in his playing, nor is he too busy.
A veteran of Count Basie’s band, Wess’ playing is simply hard to fault. It’d be nice to hear him on saxophone, or theoretically at least, as in reality a sax-harp combo might not have been a fruitful one. The Ashby and Wess harp-flute team-up had already proven successful, so returning to it one more time was a savvy maneuver that holds up well today. Of Ashby’s small-group post-bop period, In a Minor Groove is her best.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
