Dat de harp ook een jazzinstrument kan zijn, dat was al veel eerder duidelijk dan ik vorige week in de Zondagochtendmuziek dacht. Er was immers eerder al Dorothy Ashby (1932 - 1986), de Amerikaanse jazzharpiste, waarover haar wikipediapagina meldt:
Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s"[5] and the "most accomplished modern jazz harpist,"[6]
Ashby established the harp as an improvising jazz instrument, beyond
earlier use as a novelty or background orchestral instrument, proving
the harp could play bebop as adeptly as the instruments commonly associated with jazz, such as the saxophone or piano.
Dorothy Ashby, hoewel dus nogal onbekend gebleven, speelde met allerlei grootheden, zoals met Louis Armstrong en Woody Herman. Maar ook, zo lees ik in de reacties op YouTube, met Stevie Wonder:
Dorothy is the harpist on the Stevie Wonder classic “If It’s Magic” from the 1976 masterpiece “Songs In The Key of Life.” In fact, when Stevie did his Songs In The Key of Life tour in 2014/15, at the last show of the tour at Madison Square Garden on November 24, 2015, he introduced the song this way: “When I did this song on piano, you know, it was OK, I did it as a demo, but I wanted it to have it sound different, so I used a harpist, and I was so fortunate to find a incredible harpist. Her name? Dorothy Ashby. Dorothy played so incredibly well, I mean, she did it exactly as I dreamt it to be. Well, shortly after Songs In The Key of Life was released, unfortunately she passed away of cancer. Tonight, I would like to honor her by using the actual music, the actual track that I did when I sang the song, singing along with the track, in honor of the memory of Dorothy Ashby.” The performance was incredible and a fitting tribute to an amazing musician. Here’s a link to the album version: https://youtu.be/fX36mGEqfw4
Dit zijn opnames uit 1958 met Frank Wess, dwarsfluit, Herman Wright, bas, Art Taylor en Roy Haynes, drums.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten