Music
Red Bull Music Presents Madboy Band to feature special guest, Asha Puthli
After her first-ever Red Bull Music Academy lecture, Asha Puthli will make an appearance as a special guest in the gig at Mumbai’s G5A in Mahalakshmi.
Asha Puthli’s is a name that is legendary for many reasons. Over her five decades in the music industry, she has made music ranging from jazz to rock and pop to Indian fusion, been sampled by the likes of Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z, 50 Cent, Diplo and more, and collaborated with some of the finest names in the business.
On 19th October, she returns to Mumbai for her first-ever Red Bull Music Academy lecture, which will be moderated by media producer Deepti Datt at G5A in Mahalakshmi.
Following the lecture, Asha Puthli will also give a rare performance of her underground hits, alongside city-based electronic musician Madboy, featuring Saba Azad on vocals. The concert will also feature a dynamic band involving drums, bass, a horn section, percussions, guitars, synthesizers and additional vocals, belting out their unique brand of soul, funk and disco. Entry to the gig is by RSVP only on redbull.in/madboylive
The legendary Asha Puthli
Born in Mumbai to an orthodox and well-to-do family, Asha Puthli studied both Indian classical music and western music, but always harboured a dream to move to America and become a jazz vocalist. As a teenager, she would go on stage at clubs in Mumbai and perform with jazz bands, with her back to the audience to avoid being spotted.
In 1969, Asha Puthli finally made it to America on a dance scholarship with Martha Graham. Soon after, through contacts she had managed to attain, she earned herself a recording session with Ornette Coleman for his album, ‘Science Fiction’, which won her a spot in the DownBeat Critics Jazz Vocalists Poll along with Ella Fitzgerald. At the same time, she also featured on the Peter Ivers Blues Band’s cover of ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’, which entered the Top 100 Singles Billboard charts.
Simultaneously, she had kicked off her acting career, which famously began back in Mumbai when she was cast as an extra in a film being shot at a friend’s house. At the time, she promised the director, James Ivory, that she would look him up when she made it to America, and did so, landing a role in the 1972 film Savages.
Although her early dream had been to make a career in America, it was with CBS Records in England that Asha Puthli got her big break, recording her self-titled, debut album, and subsequently the next two. While her second album, ‘She Loves To Hear The Music’ continued to make people sit up and take notice, it was with her third, ‘The Devil Is Loose’, that Asha Puthli hit the big time.
Ten albums, over 25 singles and countless guest appearances later – not to mention displays at the Grammy Museum and Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Centre – Asha Puthli’s career is still going strong. Coming full cycle, she has recently completed a tribute album to Jazz legends she worked with in her early career: Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, Lionel Hampton and Cy Coleman.
“Every time I return to Mumbai it’s an ‘ET come home’ moment. The minute my feet touch the ground it is a joyful, emotional, and spiritual experience. It is thrilling to see how the music landscape in India has changed, with so many more women now involved in music and the music business. I am happy to be able to share my experiences as the first Indian woman to break into American mainstream music — at a time when boy bands were at the top echelon of record label demographics, and female solo artists were at the bottom of the tier. I feel blessed to be given this opportunity and hope my anecdotes can amuse, educate, empower or encourage the women in our audience,” says Asha Puthli.