1. Dorothy Jeanne Thompson, better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer.
14 Facts About Dorothy Ashby
1. 2.
Dorothy Ashby had to overcome many obstacles during the pursuit of her career.
3.
Dorothy Ashby attended Cass Technical High School, where fellow students included such future musical talents and jazz greats as Donald Byrd, Gerald Wilson, and Kenny Burrell.
4.
Aged 17, Dorothy Ashby continued her music studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, where she majored in piano and music education.
5.
Dorothy Ashby overcame their initial resistance and built support for the harp as a jazz instrument by organizing free shows and playing at dances and weddings with her trio.
6.
Dorothy Ashby recorded with Jimmy Cobb, Ed Thigpen, Richard Davis, Frank Wess and others in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
7.
Dorothy Ashby partially contributed to the spread of unstereotypical music education in Detroit during 1967.
8.
Dorothy Ashby's trio, including her husband, John Dorothy Ashby, on drums, regularly toured the country, recording albums for several record labels.
9.
Dorothy Ashby played with Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman, among others.
10.
In 1962, Dorothy Ashby won Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' awards for best jazz performers.
11.
Dorothy Ashby was fearless in her musical choices as she played not just bop, but soul, Brazilian, African, Middle Eastern and like her contemporary Alice Coltrane, free jazz.
12.
Dorothy Ashby played harp and piano on the soundtracks to all of her plays.
13.
Dorothy Ashby died aged 53 from cancer on April 13,1986, in her home located in Santa Monica, California.
14.
Dorothy Ashby's body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over Santa Monica Bay after a memorial service.