Jean-Luc Ponty
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Jean-Luc Ponty (born September 29, 1942, Avranches, France) is a virtuoso French violinist and jazz composer.
Trained as a professional classical violinist at the Paris Conservatory, Ponty's attraction to jazz was propelled by Miles Davis's and John Coltrane's music. Ponty has worked with Stéphane Grappelli, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Frank Zappa, and appeared on more than 70 recordings. His symphonic style to fusion made him one of most popular fusion artists of the 70's attracting fans of Genesis, ELP, Yes and King Crimson.
In 1977 he pioneered the use of the 5-string electric violin, with a lower C string. He sometimes also uses a 6-string electric violin called the Violectra, with low C and F strings – not to be confused with the violectra he played from the late 1960s to the mid-80s which had 4 strings, but tuned an octave lower. Ponty was among the first to combine the violin with MIDI, distortion boxes, phase shifters, and wah-wah pedals. This resulted in his signature, almost synthesizer-like sound.
In 2005 Ponty formed the acoustic fusion supergroup TRIO! with legendary bassist Stanley Clarke and Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck.
Contents |
[edit] Selected discography
- Jazz Long Playing (1964)
- Violin Summit (1966)
- Sunday Walk (1967)
- Cantaloupe Island (1967)
- Jean-Luc Ponty Experience (1969)
- King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (1969)
- Upon the Wings of Music (1975)
- Aurora (1976)
- Imaginary Voyage (1976)
- Enigmatic Ocean (1977)
- Cosmic Messenger (1978)
- A Taste for Passion (1979)
- Civilized Evil (1980)
- Mystical Adventures (1982)
- Individual Choice (1983)
- Open Mind (1984)
- Fables (1985)
- The Gift of Time (1987)
- Storytelling (1989)
- Tchokola (1991)
- No Absolute Time (1993)
- The Rite of Strings with Stanley Clarke and Al Di Meola (1995)
- Le Voyage (1996)
- Live at Chene Park (1997)
- The Very Best of Jean-Luc Ponty (2000)
- Life Enigma (2001)
- The Best of Jean-Luc Ponty (2002)
- Live at Semper Opera (2002)
- In Concert (2003) (CD and DVD versions)
[edit] With Frank Zappa
- Hot Rats (1969)
- Over-Nite Sensation (1973)
- Apostrophe (') (1974)
- Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981)
[edit] Films
- 1999 - L. Subramaniam: Violin From the Heart. Directed by Jean Henri Meunier. (Includes a scene with Ponty performing with L. Subramaniam.)
[edit] External links
es:Jean-Luc Ponty fr:Jean-Luc Ponty It:Jean-Luc Ponty nl:Jean-Luc Ponty pl:Jean-Luc Ponty pt:Jean-Luc Ponty fi:Jean-Luc Ponty
