Source Material: Asha Puthli – “Right Down Here”

Asha Puthli is a singer, actress, and producer from Mumbai, India.  Her road to success included multiple countries, a range of musical genres, and plenty of life experience.  As a child, Puthli trained as a vocalist in classical Indian and opera music. As a teenager, she continued her training, but she started gravitating toward jazz. Shortly after, she was performing jazz numbers in Mumbai nightclubs. Some of her earlier performances were documented by Ved Mehta. He was an author and a writer for thirty years at the New Yorker.  His 1967 piece, “Jazz In Bombay,” was a lengthy profile about the music scene in Bombay and Puthli was right in the thick of it.

After college, Puthli trained as a flight attendant for British Airways. While training in London, she vacationed in New York, then she auditioned for a dance scholarship with Martha Graham. After winning the scholarship, she left British Airways, relocated to New York, and her artistic career began to take shape. During her time in New York, John Hammond (a producer at Columbia Records) discovered Puthli after reading about her in Ved Mehta’s “Jazz In Bombay” piece. Then, Hammond listened to a rough demo by Puthli, and he ultimately signed her to CBS Records.

In 1971, Puthli was featured on two songs for Ornette Coleman’s album Science Fiction. This was big because Ornette Coleman was a notable jazz saxophonist who was also considered the creator of free jazz.  Two years later, Puthli released her debut album, Asha Puthli.  Her album includes a range of sounds, like jazz, funk, and soul. Her song “Right Down Here” is a great blend of all three.

Asha Puthli – “Right Down Here”