Jean-Luc Ponty was born on 29 September 1942 and is a French jazz violinist and composer.
23 Facts About Jean-Luc Ponty
2.
Jean-Luc Ponty was hired by the Concerts Lamoureux in which he played for three years.
3.
One night after an orchestra concert, and still wearing his tuxedo, Jean-Luc Ponty found himself at a local club with only his violin.
4.
At that time, Jean-Luc Ponty was leading a dual musical life: rehearsing and performing with the orchestra while playing jazz at clubs throughout Paris.
5.
Jean-Luc Ponty performed on stage in Basel, Switzerland, with string players Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli, and Svend Asmussen.
6.
In 1969, Frank Zappa composed the music for Ponty's solo album King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa.
7.
In 1972, Elton John invited Jean-Luc Ponty to contribute to his Honky Chateau album.
8.
At the urging of Zappa and The Mothers of Invention who wanted him to join their tour, Jean-Luc Ponty emigrated with his wife and two young daughters to the United States and made his home in Los Angeles.
9.
Jean-Luc Ponty went on to crack the Top 40 with the album Enigmatic Ocean in 1977 and Cosmic Messenger in 1978.
10.
Besides recording and touring with his own group, Jean-Luc Ponty performed with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Radio City Orchestra in New York, and symphony orchestras in Montreal, Toronto, Oklahoma City, and Tokyo.
11.
On Tchokola Jean-Luc Ponty combined acoustic and electric violins for the first time with polyrhythmic sounds of West Africa.
12.
Jean-Luc Ponty performed for two months in the US and Canada with African expatriates he had met in Paris.
13.
Jean-Luc Ponty reunited his American band in 1996 for live performances following the release of a double album for Atlantic entitled Le Voyage: The Jean-Luc Ponty Anthology.
14.
In 1997, Jean-Luc Ponty reunited his group of Western and African musicians to pursue the fusion music he had begun to explore in 1991.
15.
Jean-Luc Ponty performed duet with bassist Miroslav Vitous in December 1999.
16.
Jean-Luc Ponty played all the instruments on some tracks and was joined by band members for others.
17.
Jean-Luc Ponty gave a concert with his band in his native town of Avranches in Normandy on 21 September 2001.
18.
Jean-Luc Ponty was honored during a ceremony at City Hall.
19.
Jean-Luc Ponty then embarked on a tour in the US in October and November 2001.
20.
Jean-Luc Ponty performed on a reunion tour with Stanley Clarke and Al Di Meola from June to October 2004 in the US and Canada.
21.
In September 2014, Jean-Luc Ponty formed the Anderson Jean-Luc Ponty Band with Jon Anderson, lead singer of Yes.
22.
Jean-Luc Ponty had first recorded with Corea on his 1976 solo album My Spanish Heart.
23.
One daughter, Clara Jean-Luc Ponty, is a pianist and composer; Jean-Luc Ponty has collaborated with Clara on several projects, including her third album, Mirror of Truth.