If last year’s New Land box set With Strings Attached (see Jazzwise 287), helped reawaken interest in Dorothy Ashby, this new reissue of her 1968 LP Afro-Harping will only increase that interest.

Afro-Harping, Ashby’s first for the Chess subsidiary Cadet has been re-released a number of times before, but this can be regarded as the definitive version, eclipsing even the original. Why? Partly because of the sound: engineer Alex Wharton has gone back to the original analogue master tapes and using vintage equipment at Abbey Road, has produced a new master of stunning quality – detailed, punchy, holographic, very much created with modern listeners’ tastes in mind, but with authentic ‘warmth’ and realism; it reveals layers unheard in previous editions. In addition, the pressings (on clear or black vinyl) by Pallas are flawless.

But the packaging and research are also worthy of note – the gatefold sleeve and the well-rsearched-and-illustrated booklet provide not only detailed session information, but also socio-musical context (the essay by Shindig! magazine’s Seán Casey is excellent). Most gratifyingly, the team at Verve has managed to identify (and credit) the musicians who took part for the very first time.

And what of the music? Along with 1970’s The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby (also on Cadet) this is Ashby’s masterpiece. In the late 1960s, musical strands were starting to converge: jazz, soul, rock, psych, the avant garde. Ashby and her new Cadet collaborators – arranger-conductor-composer Richard Evans and multi-instrumentalist Charles Stepney – were obviously paying attention, as Afro-Harping contains all these elements (Stepney’s use of theremin adds a very late 1960s spaciness – a nice touch), without feeling as if it’s riding a bandwagon.

So, an album of its time then, but also one for all time. People will always want to listen to groove-heavy tunes, and Afro-Harping is predominantly about the groove, with the relentless opener ‘Soul Vibrations’ setting the scene. Dorothy’s initially easygoing ‘Life Has Its Trials’ has an omninous quality thanks to its staccato strings, while ‘Action Line’ (another Ashby composition) and ‘Lonely Girl’ are seductive. The title track is straightahead funk with an insisent flute melody, and the cover of Freddie Hubbard’s ‘Little Sunflower’ has a delightfully crisp snap about it. Even the pop ballads (‘The Look of Love’) swing mercilessly. In addition, there are 37 minutes’ worth of outtakes, which while perhaps not essential, are certaily illuminating and worth hearing.

All the musicians here shine, the rhythm section especially. The arrangements are perfectly judged. But most striking is the grit of Ashby’s harp playing, whether it’s acoustic or echo-plexed: as tough as any grizzled, hard-honking tenorman. With its matchless music, great sound and superb scholarship and presentation, Afro-Harping is a contender for Reissue of the Year.