Jean Luc Ponty And His Group In Concert (2003)

Cosmic Messenger is more elegant, European-flavored jazz-rock from the French virtuoso Jean-Luc Ponty, and pretty much in the same mold as his previous Atlantic albums but with gradually tightening control over every parameter of performance…

A switch back to Atlantic finds Jean-Luc Ponty continuing to dabble in West African waters while re-establishing his earlier solid base in repeating sequenced patterns. The electronics are back, for Ponty splits his time between the electric violin and various synthesizers and sequencers while Abdou M'Boup and Sydney Thiam add African percussion, which often takes a back seat to the electronics as the rhythmic basis for the music. This time, though, the material Ponty has composed isn't as compelling as it had been in the past; at times, Ponty sounds like he is very competently treading water (though "Blue Mambo" has a compelling groove). Yet despite all of the changes Ponty has put himself through, his music still has a Continental elegance that cannot be mistaken for that of anyone else.

Drummer Daniel Humair's name might be listed first on this double CD, and organist Eddy Louiss may be the dominant voice, but it is the inclusion of violinist Jean-Luc Ponty as part of the trio that really makes it quite historic. Recorded in Paris in 1968, the live set features Ponty at the beginning of his career, before he came to the U.S., teamed up with the George Duke Trio, joined forces with Frank Zappa, became part of the second Mahavishnu Orchestra and had his long string of fusion albums for Atlantic. Not quite 26 at the time, Ponty is featured on the date mostly playing standards including "You've Changed," "Summertime" (which is taken double time), "So What," "Bag's Groove" and "Oleo." Sometimes his violin sounds a little like a saxophone and it is clear, even at this early stage, that Ponty had a great deal of potential in jazz…

A pioneer of the electric violin in the 1970’s, and an inspired manipulator of sequencers and synthesisers in the 1980’s, Jean-Luc Ponty is the undisputed master of his instrument in this area. Experimenting with electronics and synthesis, he liberated the violin’s image and capabilities from classical or folk settings. After cutting several albums for the World Pacific label in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, In 1974, fresh from a tour with the Mahavishnu Orchestra until he signed a solo deal with Atlantic Records. Throughout the next decade, he was to record a dozen visionary albums, 5 of which are included here.

Recorded live in March 2011 at the Bern Jazz Festival, this record showcases two of Europe's greatest jazz artists and innovators perform as a duo. Legendary drummer Kenny Clarke compared Jean-Luc Ponty to Dizzy Gillespie. Fellow violinist Stuff Smith marveled, "He plays violin like Coltrane plays saxophone." Born in 1942, the French violinist transported jazz violin playing into the world of modern jazz.

The occasion for this trio to work together was a 2010 concert that celebrated violinist Jean-Luc Ponty's 50th anniversary as a recording artist. Both the violinist and Stanley Clarke had collaborated before (a previous electric trio set with Al Di Meola, the Rite Of Strings was issued in 1995), but neither had collaborated with French jazz guitarist Bireli Lagrene prior to that evening. In playing for a mere 20 minutes, they created the impetus for D-Stringz – though it took two years for them to clear their schedules and get into a Brussels studio. These ten tunes are an assortment of standards and originals. The album is an acoustic, straight-ahead date that employs flawless swinging bop and post-bop, as well as 21st century takes on gypsy and soul-jazz and funk.

These 1964 sessions marked jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty's recording debut as a leader. In spite of his choice of instrument, he was mainly influenced by bop musicians (especially saxophonists and trumpeters) rather than fellow Frenchmen, swing violinist Stéphane Grappelli. At this stage in his career, he chose mostly compositions by European musicians of his generation, along with tunes American jazz compositions that had stood the test of time. His angular playing in Martial Solal's "Une Nui Au Violon" contrasts with his later venture into jazz fusion, while his dash through Charlie Parker's "Au Privave" is almost immediately halted to first showcase drummer Daniel Humair then flautist Michel Portal before he takes center-stage with a blazing solo…

Aurora is full of state-of-the-art (for 1975) high-powered fusion that differs surprisingly little from the music that Jean-Luc Ponty has played throughout the '80s and '90s…