Asha Puthli

Actor

Born: February 4, 1945 (age 81) · Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Asha Puthli is a singer-songwriter, producer, and actress born on February 4, 1945, and raised in Bombay, India. She has recorded solo albums for EMI, CBS/Sony, and RCA. Her recordings cover blues, pop, rock, soul, funk, disco, and techno and have been produced by Del Newman and Teo Macero.

Puthli was born into a Hindu family. She is a niece of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. Her father was a businessman, and her mother was a homemaker. Like many upper middle class Hindu children at the time, she attended English-speaking Catholic schools.

Puthli began training at an early age in Indian classical music and opera. She listened to jazz and pop music on the radio, which led to her interest in fusion. At thirteen she won a contest in which she sang "Malagueña". The victory encouraged her to begin improvising with a jazz band at local tea dances. Ved Mehta described her singing in his book Portrait of India. She went to a university in Mumbai.

After receiving her degree, Puthli worked as a British Airways flight attendant. For her training, she spent two months in London where she later recalled she "would get to hear real jazz". While vacationing in America, she auditioned for a dance scholarship from Martha Graham, which she received. She resigned from British Airways and relocated to New York. John H. Hammond at Columbia had read Ved Mehta's portrait of her in Jazz in Bombay. After hearing a rough demo, he signed her to CBS Records. She sang lead vocals on the Peter Ivers Blues Band's cover version of "Ain't That Peculiar" which was reviewed favorably in Cashbox, Rolling Stone, and Billboard. The single released in 1971 entered the Billboard charts. But Take It Out On Me, the band's album featuring Puthli, was finally released in 2009.

Hammond sent her to audition for avant-garde jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman, who was looking for a singer for his album Science Fiction (1971). For the album, Puthli sang on two songs, "What Reason Could I Give" and "All My Life". For her work on Science Fiction, she shared the Downbeat Critics' Poll award for Best Female Jazz Vocalist.

Puthli's popularity grew not in the U.S. but in Europe where she signed a record deal with CBS. Her solo albums reflected her interest in pop, rock, soul, funk and disco. She gravitated toward the glam world of Elton John and T. Rex. Her self-titled debut was produced by Del Newman, and it included cover versions of songs by JJ Cale and Bill Withers. She hired Pierre LaRoche (makeup designer for David Bowie and Freddie Mercury) and photographer Mick Rock to shoot the cover. The album included a disco version of "I Am a Song" by Neil Sedaka. ...

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