The Essential

From the 1960s to the present, Indian singer, dancer, actress, and model Asha Puthlis career has followed only her own muse. Though she won a best female vocalist nod from Downbeat critics for her arresting appearance on Ornette Colemans 1971 Science Fiction, her story begins years before and continues for decades. While her best-known CBS albums have been reissued, Mr. Bongos 20-track Essential is the first anthology to range across her catalog, revealing her dalliances in psych, Indian classical, Bollywood, vanguard jazz, pop, soul, disco, new wave, and rock. The set opens with "Pain," from 1968 by the Savages. Puthli wasnt a member, but she guested on the B-side of this trippy exercise in East Indian psychedelia. She doesnt enter until midway through, but claims the arrangement from the winding, labyrinthine lead guitar, improvising across an ever-intensifying instrumental swirl. Also included are three of four tracks from a 1968 EP with the Surfers, which are all covers of then-current pop hits. Her hallucinatory reading of Bobby Hebbs "Sunny" rivals every other version for originality. Thankfully, both appearances from Science Fiction are included. While Downbeat critics embraced "What Reason Could I Give" and "All My Life" as new vocal frameworks for jazz, Puthlis performances were deeply tuned to Colemans visionary bridging of soul and jazz. "Mirror" from 1972, marked her showstopping appearance on saxophonist Charlie Marianos avant-jazz-blues fusion album of the same title. "Right Down Here" and "Lies" were drawn from her 1973 self-titled debut. On the former, one can hear the kind of moldering nocturnal R&B Grace Jones created almost a decade later. The piano vamp in the latter foreshadows the Atlanta Rhythm Sections "So into You," but Puthlis powerful vocal explodes the comparison. The title track from 1976s The Devil Is Loose and the oft-sampled classic "Space Talk" are here. The latter offers her canny command of R&B and jazz phrasing amid sheeny, silky Euro-disco production. Further, Puthli co-wrote all of the albums songs. "One Night Affair," from 1975s Teo Macero-produced She Loves to Hear the Music, is jazz-inflected, disco-kissed New York R&B, with a soaring chorus and roiling backbeat. "Im Gonna Dance" and "Music Machine," from 1978s LIndiana, are frenetic dancefloor exercises that Puthli lords over with sexy, commanding cool. The title track reprise from 1979s 1001 Nights of Love weds Indian classical and electro to cinematic production. "Mister Moonlight" gorgeously channels Donna Summers dancefloor dramatics amid hedonistic polished production. "Prism of the Sun" weds droning sarod and ambient synths under Puthlis elegant, deep-blue croon. "Were Gonna Bury the Rock with the Roll tonight," from 1980s Im Gonna Kill It Tonight, is new wave peppered with chanted choruses, jagged beats, and a rockabilly progression. "Chipko Chipko," from 1990s Hari Om, is dancefloor-oriented Hindustani dream pop. Beautifully curated with the artists full participation, Essentials sources are diverse, while sound is (mostly) exemplary. This is not only a solid introduction but a definitive overview of an iconic (ongoing) career. ~ Thom Jurek