Jean-Luc Ponty facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty at the Nice Jazz Festival in 2008
Background information
Born	(1942-09-29) 29 September 1942 (age 82) Avranches, France
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Violin, electric violin
Years active	1958–present
Labels	Atlantic, Columbia, Blue Note, Prestige, World Pacific Records, Philips, Epic, Koch, Polygram, J.L.P. Productions
Associated acts	Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Mothers of Invention, Return to Forever

Jean-Luc Ponty, born on September 29, 1942, is a famous French musician. He plays the violin and writes music. He is known for mixing jazz music with rock, especially because he started using the electric violin in the 1970s. He became very popular by working with famous artists like Frank Zappa and Elton John. Besides his own music, he has played with big orchestras in many countries.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Jean-Luc Ponty grew up in Avranches, France. His family loved classical music. His dad taught violin, and his mom taught piano. When he was 16, he got into a top music school in Paris. It was called the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He graduated two years later with the highest award. After that, he played in an orchestra called the Concerts Lamoureux for three years.

While playing in the orchestra, Ponty also played clarinet in a college jazz band. His dad had taught him the clarinet. This side job changed his life. He became very interested in jazz artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane. This led him to start playing the tenor saxophone. One night, he ended up at a jazz club with only his violin. Within four years, he was known as a top jazz violinist.

Ponty was living a double life. He practiced and performed with the orchestra. At the same time, he played jazz in clubs around Paris. This busy schedule made him choose one path. Music critic Joachim Berendt said that after Ponty, the jazz violin was a different instrument.

Achieving Success with the Violin

At first, playing the violin in jazz was hard. Many people did not think the violin fit well in modern jazz. But Ponty had a strong sound. He played in a punchy style, like horn players. This made him stand out. In 1964, when he was 22, he released his first album, Jazz Long Playing. He also played with other famous violinists like Stuff Smith and Stéphane Grappelli. This performance was released as the album Violin Summit in 1966.

John Lewis invited Ponty to play at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1967. This led to a record deal. He released albums like Electric Connection (1969) and Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio (1969). In 1967, he also released Sunday Walk, which was his first time working with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.

Moving to the United States and Collaborations

Jean-Luc Ponty playing at the Berkeley Jazz Festival in 1982.

In 1969, the famous musician Frank Zappa wrote music for Ponty's solo album. It was called King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa. In 1972, Elton John asked Ponty to play on his album Honky Chateau. Zappa and his band, The Mothers of Invention, wanted Ponty to join their tour. So, Ponty moved to the United States with his family. He settled in Los Angeles.

He worked on many projects there. He played on two albums for John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. These were Apocalypse (1974) and Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975). In 1975, he signed with Atlantic. For the next ten years, Ponty toured the world. He released 12 albums in a row. Each of them reached the top five on the Billboard jazz charts. Millions of his albums were sold.

His early Atlantic albums, like Aurora (1976) and Imaginary Voyage (1976), made him a top jazz-rock artist. He also had hit albums like Enigmatic Ocean (1977) and Cosmic Messenger (1978). In 1984, a music video was made for his song "Individual Choice". It showed fast-motion images of New York City and Chicago.

Besides his own band, Ponty played with many orchestras. These included the Radio City Orchestra in New York. In the late 1980s, he recorded The Gift of Time (1987) and Storytelling (1989).

On his album Tchokola (1991), Ponty mixed his violins with sounds from West Africa. He toured with African musicians he met in Paris. In 1993, he released No Absolute Time. In 1995, he teamed up with guitarist Al Di Meola and bassist Stanley Clarke. They recorded an acoustic album called The Rite of Strings. This trio toured North and South America and Europe. In 1996, he released a double album called Le Voyage: The Jean-Luc Ponty Anthology. He also released a live album, Live at Chene Park, recorded in Detroit.

In 1997, Ponty brought back his group of Western and African musicians. They toured for three years. He also played duets with bassist Miroslav Vitous and Russian violinist Vadim Repin. In 2000, he played on Lalo Schifrin's album Esperanto.

In 2001, Ponty released Life Enigma on his own label. He played many instruments on this album himself. He also gave a concert in his hometown of Avranches. He then toured the U.S. In 2002, he released Live at Semper Opera, recorded in Germany. In 2003, he toured India for the first time.

Ponty toured again with Stanley Clarke and Al Di Meola in 2004. In 2005, he toured with a group called Trio! with Stanley Clarke and Béla Fleck. In 2006, he toured with his own band again. They released a studio album called The Atacama Experience (2007). In 2012, Ponty played in an acoustic trio with Clarke and guitarist Bireli Lagrene. In 2014, they recorded the jazz album D-Stringz. Also in 2014, Jon Anderson, the lead singer of the band Yes, announced a new band with Jean-Luc Ponty. It was called the Anderson-Ponty Band.

Work with Return to Forever

In 2011, the bandleader and keyboard player Chick Corea asked Ponty to join his group Return to Forever. This group was called 'Return to Forever IV'. Ponty had first recorded with Corea on his 1976 album My Spanish Heart.

Personal Life

Jean-Luc Ponty is married and has two daughters. One of his daughters, Clara Ponty, is a pianist and composer. Jean-Luc Ponty has worked with Clara on some of her music projects.

Discography

As leader

• Jazz Long Playing (Philips, 1964)
• Sunday Walk (SABA, 1967)
• Violin Summit with Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli, Svend Asmussen (SABA, 1967)
• More Than Meets the Ear (World Pacific, 1968)
• Electric Connection (World Pacific, 1969)
• Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio (World Pacific, 1969)
• King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (World Pacific, 1970)
• Astrorama Live with Masahiko Satoh. (Far East/Toshiba EMI, 1970)
• New Violin Summit with Don "Sugar Cane" Harris, Michal Urbaniak (MPS/BASF, 1971)
• Live at Montreux 72 (Pierre Cardin, 1972)
• Open Strings (MPS/BASF, 1972)
• Ponty/Grappelli with Stephane Grappelli (America, 1973)
• Upon the Wings of Music (Atlantic, 1975)
• Jean-Luc Ponty (Liberty/EMI, 1976)
• Aurora (Atlantic, 1976)
• Cantaloupe Island (Blue Note, 1976)
• Imaginary Voyage (Atlantic, 1976)
• Jean-Luc Ponty Meets Giorgio Gaslini (Pausa, 1976)
• Enigmatic Ocean (Atlantic, 1977)
• Live at Donte's (Blue Note, 1978)
• Cosmic Messenger (Atlantic, 1978)
• A Taste for Passion (Atlantic, 1979)
• Live (Atlantic, 1979)
• Heartstring/Jean-Luc Ponty: Live with Earl Klugh (AFRTS 1979)
• Civilized Evil (Atlantic, 1980)
• As Trio with Daniel Humair, Eddy Louiss (All Life, 1980)
• Mystical Adventures (Atlantic, 1982)
• Individual Choice (Atlantic, 1983)
• Open Mind (Atlantic, 1984)
• Fables (Atlantic, 1985)
• The Gift of Time (Columbia, 1987)
• Storytelling (Columbia, 1989)
• Puss in Boots with Tracey Ullman (Rabbit Ears, 1991)
• Tchokola (Epic, 1991)
• Volume 1 with Daniel Humair, Eddy Louiss (Dreyfus, 1991)
• Volume 2 (Dreyfus, 1991) with Daniel Humair, Eddy Louiss
• No Absolute Time (Atlantic, 1993)
• The Rite of Strings with Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola (Gai Saber 1995)
• Live at Chene Park (Atlantic, 1996)
• Life Enigma (J.L.P., 2001)
• Live at Semper Opera (Le Chant Du Monde, 2002)
• Jean-Luc Ponty in Concert (Le Chant Du Monde, 2003)
• The Atacama Experience (Koch, 2007)
• D-Stringz with Stanley Clarke, Bireli Lagrene (Impulse!, 2015)
• Better Late Than Never with Jon Anderson (Ear Music, 2015)

As sideman

With Chick Corea

• My Spanish Heart (Polydor, 1976)
• Chick Corea (Polydor, 1987)
• Music Forever & Beyond (GRP, 1996)
• Forever (Concord, 2011)

With Mahavishnu Orchestra

• Apocalypse (Columbia, 1974)
• Visions of the Emerald Beyond (Columbia, 1975)
• The Mahavishnu Orchestra & John McLaughlin (Amiga, 1979)

With Frank Zappa

• Hot Rats (Bizarre/Reprise, 1969)
• The Mothers, Over-Nite Sensation (Discreet, 1973)
• Apostrophe (Discreet, 1974)
• Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (Barking Pumpkin, 1981)
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6 (Rykodisc, 1992)
• The Lost Episodes (Rykodisc, 1996)
• One Shot Deal (2008)
• Road Tapes, Venue 2 (Vaulternative, 2013)
• The Crux Of The Biscuit (Zappa Records, 2016)

With others

• Inventioning, Some People (Michael Lewis/Blue Street Artists, 2021)
• Jon Anderson, 1000 Hands: Chapter One (Opio Media, 2019)
• Sam Bush, Laps in Seven (Sugar Hill, 2006)
• Michel Colombier, Wings (A&M 1971)
• Wolfgang Dauner, Free Action (SABA, 1967)
• George Duke, Night After Night (Elektra, 1989)
• Serge Gainsbourg, Histoire De Melody Nelson (Light in the Attic, 2009)
• George Gruntz, Noon in Tunisia (SABA, 1967)
• Andre Hodeir, Anna Livia Plurabelle (Philips, 1966)
• Elton John, Honky Chateau (UNI, 1972)
• Jeff Lorber, Hacienda (Heads Up, 2013)
• Clara Ponty, Mirror of Truth (Eden, 2005)
• Clara Ponty, Into the Light (Le Chant Du Monde, 2010)
• Return to Forever, The Mothership Returns (Eagle 2012)
• Lalo Schifrin, Esperanto (Aleph, 2000)
• Alan Sorrenti, Aria (Harvest, 1972)
• Gerald Wilson, Eternal Equinox (World Pacific, 1969)

Films

• 1999: L. Subramaniam: Violin from the Heart (This film shows Ponty and L. Subramaniam playing music together.)

See also

In Spanish: Jean-Luc Ponty para niños