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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.

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.

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. - TheVinylDistrict