Dorothy Ashby- charlie

All too often, I get music off of soul-sides that I don’t give enough credit.  When I first heard Dorothy Ashby’s “The Moving Finger”, the long spoken word intro forced me to skip over the song (I say forced because I often have the bad habit of skimming songs based on their initial 15 seconds).  Upon further review, I was buying her record off of Dusty Groove within minutes.

The Rubiyat of Dorothy Ashby is simultaneously one of the strangest and grooviest and most beautiful albums I’ve ever laid my ears on.  Channeling a collection of 11th century verses called The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam, Ashby flawlessly combines psychedelic spoken word, sophisticated modern jazz arrangements, and funky world-beat session musicians.  And she’s got a phenomenal voice, to boot.  Oh yeah, and she plays the koto like a groovy Jazzmaster.  

The Moving Finger writes, and having writ, moves ooooooooonnnn….

Drink

 

Wine

 

Joyful Grass and Grape

 

The Moving Finger

 

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