Asha Puthli is one of the most successful vocalists ever to come out of India. Jazz fans exalt her as a legend for her daredevil vocals on the Science Fiction album by free jazz iconoclast Ornette Coleman. But with ten solo albums under her belt for labels like EMI, CBS/Sony, and RCA, Asha is a cosmpolitan pioneer of jazz-inspired funk, soul and electronic dance music.Trained in Indian classical singing and jazz improvising, Asha Puthli created her own unique sound in the 1970's - soft, slinky, sexy, meditative, and chilled out. Captured on classic recordings like "Space Talk" and "Say Yes," that distinctively cool sound prefigured the entire rise of acid jazz, ambient dance and neo-soul music. Today, as Asha Puthli prepares to release new material, her songs are being rediscovered by legions of hip-hop, neo-soul, nu-jazz, and electronica fans.Asha's underground 1970's albums have become popular hip-hop break records, sampled by the likes of The Notorious B.I.G., Diddy, Jay-Z, The Neptunes, Jermaine Dupri, Jagged Edge, SWV, J-Walk, Governor Feat. 50 Cent, Dilated Peoples, Redman, and the Aboriginals; and her cover of George Harrison's "I Dig Love" was sampled by visionary producer and remixer DIPLO for the chart-topping track "Reloaded" by last year's UK Mobo award winner KANO. Asha also co-wrote and sings the lead vocal on Stratus's "Looking Glass" which charted in the UK in 2005.Asha's solo recordings have been produced by the likes of Del Newman, who produced Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and Teo Macero, who produced Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew." She has also produced and co-written many of her recognized hits. 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, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Haden, Michael Franti, Bill Laswell, Patti Smith, Don Cherry, Freddie Hubbard, And Django Reinhardt.
