France's Jean-Luc Ponty is a prolific recording artist, composer and bandleader. He pioneered the electric violin in jazz-rock in the 1970s, creating a distinctive sonic fusion that graced iconic albums by Frank Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra and others. Between 1975 and 1995, Ponty released more than a dozen consecutive top ten albums under his own name.
These included Upon the Wings of Music (1975), Enigmatic Ocean (1977), The Gift of Time (1987), Storytelling (1989), and The Rite of Strings (1995, alongside Stanley Clarke and Al Di Meola). 2007's The Atacama Experience featured guitarists Allan Holdsworth and Philip Catherine.
In 2015, Ponty, Clarke and guitarist Biréli Lagrène released D-Stringz, while the violinist and vocalist Jon Anderson issued Better Late Than Never. In 2022, MPS issued the archival Live at the Bern Jazz Festival with pianist Wolfgang Dauner. In June, Ponty appeared on house producer Ron Trent's single "Sphere."
Share this post