Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jean-Luc Ponty was born September 29, 1942 in Avranches, France to parents who taught and played violin, piano and clarinet. At sixteen, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, graduating two years later with the institution’s highest award, Premier Prix. He was immediately hired by one of the major symphony orchestras, Concerts Lamoureux, where he played for three years.
While still a member of the orchestra in Paris, Ponty picked up a side gig playing clarinet for a college jazz band that regularly performed at local parties. This life-changing jumping-off point sparked an interest in the jazz sounds of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, compelling him to take up the tenor saxophone. After a night in a local club with his violin it only took four years to be widely accepted as the leading figure in jazz fiddle.
Adopting the electric violin was at first proved to be a handicap as few at the time viewed the instrument as having no legitimate place in the modern jazz vocabulary. With a powerful sound that eschewed vibrato, Jean-Luc distinguished himself with be-bop era phrasings and a punchy style, that by 1964, at age 22, he released his debut solo album for Philips, Jazz Long Playing. He would go on to record with violin greats like Stephane Grappelli and Stuff Smith, perform at Monterey in 1967 with John Lewis, snag a recording contract and work with Gerald Wilson Big Band, the George Duke Trio and Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson.
In 1969, Frank Zappa composed the music for Jean-Luc’s solo album King Kong; in 1972 Elton John collaborated with Ponty on Honky Chateau, and within a year emigrated to America, making his home in Los Angeles, California. He worked with John McLaughlin Mahavishnu Orchestra, and in 1975 signed with Atlantic Records. For the next decade, Jean-Luc toured the world repeatedly and recorded 12 consecutive albums which all reached the top 5 on the Billboard Jazz charts.
Over the course of his prolific career, violinist Jena-Luc Ponty has performed with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Radio City Orchestra, with symphonies around the world, Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke, a host of American and African musicians, collaborated with his pianist daughter Clara on several project, joined the 4th incarnation of Return To Forever in 2011 and continues perform, tour and record, adding to his more than four dozen album catalogue.
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