Judi Singh: The Punjabi-Canadian Jazz Artist Who Sang Of Identity & Belonging

Judi Singh’s life is not just a story about music. It is about identity, belonging, and what it means to create space for yourself when society refuses to recognise you fully. A Black-Sikh woman born in mid-20th-century Alberta, a place hardly known for diversity or jazz,  Singh stood out, not only for her extraordinary voice but also for her very existence.

Early Life and Heritage

Judi Singh was born on May 9, 1945, in Edmonton. Her father, Sohan Singh Bhullar, was one of the earliest Punjabi Sikh settlers in Alberta. Her mother, Effie Jones, was a Black Canadian woman from Amber Valley, a settlement founded by African American migrants fleeing racial violence in the United States.

Growing up in a household that carried both Sikh and Black traditions, Singh was surrounded by cultural and musical diversity. She heard gospel choirs, Hindustani melodies, and jazz standards that later shaped her sound. This dual heritage also meant that she grew up negotiating multiple identities in a society where both her race and her gender marked her as “different.”

From an early age, Singh gravitated towards performance. At just 17, she made her debut at Edmonton’s Yardbird Suite, a legendary jazz club. Her talent quickly caught the attention of fellow musicians. In the 1960s, she began recording for CBC in Winnipeg and collaborating with guitarist Lenny Breau, who admired her artistry.

Her major recorded work came in 1970, when she worked with pianist and bandleader Tommy Banks to release A Time for Love, her first and only album. The record displayed her ability to fuse emotional depth with technical control. For many who heard her live, she was considered one of the finest jazz singers in Western Canada.

Challenges and Barriers

Despite her brilliance, Singh did not achieve mainstream success. The reasons for this go beyond individual choice or chance. In mid-20th-century Canada, the music industry was overwhelmingly dominated by men and was far more willing to promote white women vocalists than women of colour.

As a Black-Sikh woman, Singh stood outside the mould of what record companies considered “marketable.” She was admired by her peers, but her opportunities were limited. This left her with a reputation as a “musicians’ musician” deeply respected by insiders, but largely unknown to the wider public.

Her personal life also had its difficulties. Her relationship with Lenny Breau was complicated, and like many women artists, she carried the burden of navigating both her art and the expectations of gender roles.

Later Years and Rediscovery

Singh continued to perform through the 1970s, appearing at clubs and festivals, but her recorded output remained small. After her marriage, she shifted away from pursuing music as a full-time career, and her name gradually slipped out of the spotlight.

Decades later, however, her story began resurfacing. In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, researcher Poushali Mitra discovered Singh’s profile while working for the Alberta Sikh History Project. Intrigued by her surname “Singh,” Mitra began digging into her history, piecing together the life of a woman who defied categorisation.

Her legacy was further celebrated through the documentary "Have You Heard Judi Singh?", which was screened at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival. Today, her rare recordings are being revisited by crate-diggers, archivists, and young jazz fans eager to uncover voices left out of the mainstream narrative.

A Feminist Lens

From a feminist perspective, Judi Singh’s life reveals much about how systemic barriers influence which voices are remembered. She had the skill and originality to stand alongside celebrated jazz singers of her era, but she was held back by intersecting prejudices of race, gender, and culture.

Her near-erasure from jazz history mirrors the experience of many women artists of colour celebrated in small spaces, admired privately, but denied the recognition that would have secured their place in cultural memory. Singh’s story urges us to ask: how many women like her have been left out of the archives, and how can we bring them back?

Remembering Judi Singh

Today, Judi Singh represents more than just an individual singer. She symbolises resilience, hybridity, and creativity in the face of exclusion. By recovering her life and music, we do more than honour her talent — we reclaim space for women whose voices were pushed to the margins.

Judi Singh’s story is a reminder that culture is richer than the narrow versions often preserved in history books. She sang at the crossroads of identities and traditions, and in doing so, created a sound that still feels fresh. To remember her now is to ensure that women of colour, past and present, are not lost to silence but celebrated for the worlds they bring into being.