For fans of: Hip harp! (c. 1957)

What they're saying: A profile at The Vinyl District provides an in depth artist bio and observes that Ashby was here able to utilize the harp within the constraints of 50s jazz, as “she succeeded in adapting her sizable axe to the far stricter norms of post-bop. Her second LP is 1957’s Hip Harp, and it endures as a highly satisfying, non-gimmicky listen.” An IPM piece points to Hip Harp as one of the records that solidified Ashby’s stature as one of jazz music’s premier harpists: “By the late 1950s she was signed to Prestige Records, where she made two albums in quick succession that furthered her growing reputation”

What we say: This is a reissue of a 1957 LP originally released on the Prestige label. The title of this one says it all, as this is a session of impeccably played harp fronted cool-jazz. Very chill, and a fascinating foreshadowing of her later more adventurous records.