Jazz på Munch: Asha Puthli

Jazz royalty and disco’s cosmic pioneer

MUNCH and Oslo Jazz Festival are honoured to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans of Asha Puthli – both old and new - to see her perform her legendary hits with her acclaimed live band.

Perhaps best known for her stirring vocals on free jazz legend Ornette Coleman’s seminal album Science Fiction (1972), Asha Puthli is a pioneer of jazz, funk, soul, electronic dance and disco.

Born and raised in Bombay, Asha moved to New York to pursue her love of jazz. There, she met legendary John Hammond from Columbia Records, who had discovered acts like Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen to Bob Dylan, and Asha herself! Hammond introduced her to Ornette Coleman, with whom she recorded two tracks - "What Reason Could I Give" and "All My Life". It was the first time Coleman had worked with a vocal artist.

Asha’s unique, stirring vocals won her the prestigious DownBeat Critics award alongside her hero Ella Fitzgerlad, capitulating her to Jazz Royalty status. Asha went on to feature on Pulitzer prize winner Henry Threadgill’s groundbreaking album 'Easily Slip Into Another World' and has worked with a long list of greats, including Duke Ellington, Barry White, Roy Ayers, and Don Cherry, to name a few.