Asha Putli

292 listeners (847 plays)

Biography

Asha Puthli (best pronounced PUT-LEE, as in “put that away”) is one of the most successful vocalists ever 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.

“Asha Puthli is staging a major comeback with her first solo recording project in nearly fifteen years”

Undefeated by an industry that rarely had a clue how to market a forward-thinking, boundary-breaking Indian singer, songwriter and producer - Asha Puthli is staging a major comeback with her first solo recording project in nearly fifteen years. Satisfaction comes from the fact that rather than compromise, she’s waited for the recording industry to catch up to her artistic vision.

A quick glance at some of the artists with whom she has recorded, sung or shared the stage is a testament to her eclecticism: ALICE COLTRANE, ROY AYERS, HENRY THREADGILL, GRACE JONES, MIRIELLE MATTHIEW, SONNY ROLLINS, CHARLIE HADEN, RENATO ZERO, BARRY WHITE, BILL LASWELL, PATTI SMITH, NINA HAGEN, DON CHERRY, FREDDIE HUBBARD, AND DJANGO REINHARDT.

Trained in Indian classical singing and a natural jazz improviser, Asha Puthli created her own unique sound in the 1970s - soft, slinky, sexy, meditative, and chilled out.