Lori Andrews

Although the harp is seldom viewed as a jazz instrument, Lori Andrews and Deborah Henson-Conant established during the 1990s that it need not be limited to ornamental accompaniment. Lori Andrews earned her degree from Temple University in 1979, maintained a steady performance schedule in Atlantic City from 1980 through 1985, and relocated to Los Angeles in 1985. Beginning in 1992 she held a recurring engagement at the Warehouse in Marina Del Rey while also recording in studios and touring alongside John Tesh. She appeared briefly on camera in the films Bird, The Mambo Kings, and In the Line of Fire. From a jazz perspective her most significant step was launching JazHarp Records, which allowed her to document her work from 1993 onward and confirm that the harp, at least in her hands, functions effectively as a jazz instrument.