This for me is currently the best album I have ever heard. I think that Ms Ashby was far far ahead of her time with this one and it is a great inspiration to me at the present time.

Every track moves into a new phase of what I believe to be a very beautifully and skillfully crafted piece of work.

But, does anybody know who the rhythm section are?? I'd love to know, they're solid throughout and not mentioned in the liner notes, a tragedy! If you know please shout out

This album was inspired by the words of ancient middle-eastern philosopher Omar Khayyam, but the beginning of the opening track apart, there isn't that much in the grooves that is influenced by that culture. Instead the rhythms span from swing to African styles with straight beats inbetween, sometimes sprinkled with Dorothy's intoned profundities. A real potpourri, not all of it works, such as the over-ambitious "Shadow Shapes" that sounds like a reject from a Cole Porter musical (one can even imagine Gene Kelly hoofing away in the instrunental breaks), and on "Joyful Grass and Grape", Dot whacks away on a Koto for far too long solo before a sluggish so-so beat finally arrives. She actually sings on several tracks which may surprise some, but I think it's a shame it didn't happen more often, as she has a clear and radiant alto delivery. As such the best tracks for me are the sad but beautiful ballads "Drink", "Dust" and "Heaven & Hell", wherein Dorothy opines the fleetingness of life, made more poignant by the fact that she had already passed away some 20 years before I got to hear them.

'The Moving Finger' is the track that beat heads hunted down for many years, heavy percussion, heavy drums, heavy strings and a spooky poem. Note the number of references to alcohol in the track titles, rumour has it that it was her love of the grape and maybe even grass that lead to her early death.