Asha Puthli

The iconic Indian vocalist Asha Puthli returns to the global stage with a series of electrifying projects celebrating her global influence and legacy as an artist.

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 as well as her cult cosmic disco opus ‘The Devil Is Loose’ (featuring The Loft classic ‘Space Talk’), Asha is a cosmopolitan pioneer of jazz, disco, funk, soul and electronic music who has recorded ten solo albums for labels like EMI and CBS/Sony.

The legendary artist has just released her first official remix album ‘Disco Mystic: Select Remixes Volume 1’ on the Naya Beat label. It features remixes by legendary dance music producers including Yuksek, Kraak & Smaak, Maurice Fulton, Jitwam, Turbotito & Ragz and Psychemagik using the long mythologised original recordings of Puthli's most seminal albums, including ‘The Devil is Loose’. The number 1 album on Juno Download (as well as in the Nu-Disco/Disco and Funk categories), it sold out on vinyl within days of its release. This follows her critically acclaimed ‘Space Talk’ EP released in April 2023 featuring remixes of her iconic track by French house music legend Dimitri From Paris.

Asha is now gearing up for what promises to be the event of 2024 – a European and Australian tour slated for the summer that will include performances at iconic venues and festivals including We Out Here, RISING Festival, The Jazz Café and others. This is her first official tour in 40 years and a once in a lifetime opportunity for her fans, old and new, to see her perform.

Although Asha is a jazz improviser at heart, her major label recordings reflect her wide-ranging aesthetic: she moves between disco, Indian classical, avant-garde jazz, R&B, soul, funk, ambient, new age and new wave. 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: Ornette Coleman, 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.