At the age of 22 he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and worked in radio as a studio pianist, musical director, and announcer at KVOO-FM.

After the end of his service in the Army, he moved to Los Angeles and found work with trumpeter Wingy Manone's band.

His performances at Club 47 led to sessions with Clive Acker's Jump Records as a soloist in late 1947, and with Rosy McHargue's Memphis Five.

Ash's interpretations of "Maple Leaf Rag", "Cannon Ball", and "Fidgety Feet" were a contrast to Busch's arranged honky-tonk style and colleague Ray Turner's novelty recordings.

Some of these included recording or live sessions with trombonist Jack Teagarden, clarinetist Matty Matlock, tenor saxophonist/clarinetist Pud Brown and cornetist Pete Daily.

Ash found employment in the Walt Disney Studios music department playing for movie and television soundtracks, acting as the resident arranger and pianist for the Mickey Mouse Club, and performing with Firehouse Five Plus Two member and Disney musical director George Bruns and his Wonderland Jazz Band.

After his retirement from Disney in the mid-1960s, Ash spent his last few years playing vintage jazz, stride, and ragtime in the cocktail lounge of a large bowling alley in Los Angeles.