Asha Puthli
Asha Puthli (best pronounced PUT-LEE, as in "put that away") is one of the most successful vocalists to come out of India. Perhaps best known for her stirring vocals on free jazz legend Ornette Coleman's ‘Science Fiction’ album, Asha is a cosmopolitan pioneer of jazz, funk, soul and electronic dance music who has recorded ten solo albums for labels like EMI and CBS/Sony.
Although Asha is a jazz improviser at heart, her major label recordings reflect her wide-ranging aesthetic: she moves between Indian classical, avant-garde jazz, traditional jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, ambient, new wave, new age, and Bollywood. The eclectic, often outré artwork that graces her albums stem from her early interest in glam and glitter rock. Her silken, ethereal soprano voice laced over dance beats created the sonic template that would later rocket artists like Blondie and Donna Summer to worldwide popularity. Yet Puthli's recordings remain testaments to her pioneering musical vision.
A quick glance at some of the artists with whom she has recorded, sung or shared the stage with is a testament to her eclecticism: Lionel Hampton, Alice Coltrane, Roy Ayers, Henry Threadgill, Grace Jones, Mirielle Mathieu, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Haden, Renato Zero, Barry White, Bill Laswell, Patti Smith, Nina Hagen, Don Cherry, Freddie Hubbard, and Django Reinhardt to name a few.
Born and raised in Bombay, Puthli began her musical journey in classical Indian music and opera, which later branched out and evolved into jazz and fusion. Her quest to synergize east and west began via a dance scholarship to New York with Martha Graham.
Upon her arrival in New York, Asha was championed by Columbia Records impresario John Hammond, who had forged a brilliant career discovering acts like Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Hammond sent her to record with avant-garde pioneer Ornette Coleman, and her performances on his arresting ‘Science Fiction’ album garnered her the highly prestigious Downbeat Critics' Poll award for"best female jazz vocalist," alongside Ella Fitzgerald elevating her instantly to jazz ‘royalty’ status.
Her first music break as a solo artist came in Europe after a TV appearance on a talk show. A signing to CBS records in the UK followed and she worked with Del Newman, Elton’s Johns producer, in 1973 to create her first album (self-titled)–a pop-tinged crossover gem. Her disco album of 1976 ‘The Devil is Loose’ was recorded in Germany and named “An Instant Classic” by The New York Times. The iconic track ‘Space Talk’ became popular with everyone from David Manusco and the infamous New York loft crowd to afro cosmic pioneers Beppe Loda and Daniele Baldelli in Italy.
A familiar face in the Studio 54 disco hey-day in the 1970s and always rocking a fantastic sense of style, Asha has been dressed by designers Bill Gibb, Zandra Rhodes, Andrew Logan, Halston, Michaele Vollbracht, Larry LeGaspi, Giorgio Sant'Angelo, Manolo Blahnik and Sergio Valente and photographed by the likes of Richard Avedon, Andy Warhol, Francesco Scavullo, Mick Rock, David Bailey, Clive Arrowsmith, Norman Seeff and Herbert Migdoll among others.
Not content with this already impressive CV, Puthli went on to star in (and provide soundtrack songs for) films such as ‘Savages’ (Merchant Ivory), which was subsequently banned in India due to the racy outfits, and later ‘The Gang That Sold America’ (Bruno Corbucci).
Asha's 1970s albums, helmed by renowned producers like Del Newman and Teo Macero, have become popular in hip-hop, with her musics ampled by the likes of The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, The Neptunes, Jermaine Dupri, Jagged Edge, SWV, J-Walk, Governor Feat. 50 Cent, Dilated Peoples, P. Diddy and The Aboriginals; and her cover of George Harrison's ‘I Dig Love’ was sampled by Diplo for UK Mobo award winner Kano's ‘Reloaded’.
After an almost 10-year hiatus out of the music scene, during which she raised her son, Asha then discovered her old albums were selling as collector items for over $100 a pop. The new millennium saw Puthli re-emerge as an in-demand guest artist on the electronica circuit, appearing on Bill Laswell's ‘Asana Vol. 3’, ‘Hey Diwani, Hey Diwana’ with techno-fusion group Dum Dum Project, and a variety of rare groove and yoga music collections. In 2006, she appeared on Laswell's ‘Asana OHM Shanti’, an album that also features Karsh Kale, Pharoah Sanders, Grandmaster Dxt and Ustad Sultan Khan. She has since headlined international festivals including New York’s Central Park Summerstage as well as Utrecht’s Le Guess Who?
Like her mentor Ornette Coleman, Asha has always been ahead of her time, and now, fifty plus years after her debut, she has finally taken her rightful place in the pantheon of jazz legends and fusion trail blazers. In 2013 The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles installed an exhibit of Puthli's costume and albums as a music fusion pioneer from India. Another major exhibition which includes her first jazz recording opened in 2014 at the Smithsonian, Washington D.C. in an exhibit titled "Indian Americans Who Changed the Nation". The last museum to exhibit Asha’s self-titled album was the Whitney in New York in the Andy Warhol A to B exhibit. Asha’s album was the centerpiece in the display of objects from Warhol’s “Time Capsule”.