JEAN-LUC PONTY

A new, entirely American lineup supporting Jean-Luc for this, the first of his long association with Atlantic Records. Consequently, the sound of these songs is the first in the true entry to Third Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion. (Remember: in 1975 anything was possible!)

1. "Upon The Wings Of Music" (5:26) now here's the patented J-L Ponty sound! Thanks to bassist extraordinaire Ralphe Armstrong, the amazingly versatile (and grossly under-appreciated) keyboard player, Patrice Rushen, Jean-Luc's sound is richer, funkier, and way more modern than the electrified attempts he made on previous albums. But, hey! It's all about evolution--the willingness to try new things, adapt, and change, right? Great slap-funk bass from Ralphe with solid drumming from Ndugu. (9/10)

2. "Question With No Answer" (3:29) piano with multiple tracks of violin (a trick Jean-Luc would persist in trying and perfecting by the time Cosmic Messenger and Individual Choice roll around). Some of the violins are more effected than the others, some sounding almost acoustic. Patrice Rushen's bluesy piano provides the absolute perfect support for Jean-Luc's display of multiple personalities, but the addition of the electric bass and drums (mixed far too forward and loudly) is a mistake as their melody-making and rhythmic add-ons only distracts--especially in their total redundancy. (8.75/10)

3. "Now I Know" (4:27) slow and bluesy with a near-C&W ballad-like feel to it, the treated electric violin is very much in line with the sound that will dominate Jean-Luc's albums and music for the next decade. Nice laid back work from the rhythm section, even when Patrice steps up for an electric piano solo in the third minute. But the highlight is Jean- Luc's Violectra and synthesizer use--a first (as far as I know). Cool stuff! (8.875/10)

4. "Polyfolk Dance" (5:12) yes, it's based on folk melodies, but the sound and pacing is all RETURN TO FOREVER-- especially due to the presence and very up-front and center contributions of guitarist Ray Parker, Jr. I also love Patrice Rushen's fluid, free, and floating electric piano play between everything that the leads and rhythm section are doing. At 1:45 there is a surprise shift not only to a different road and speed but to a completely different vehicle! The opening was like riding in a van whereas now we've switched to a sports car. Several more tempo and motif switches occur fairly quickly, all the while Ralphe and Ndugu remain locked in while Patrice remains totally lax and fluid. Really cool teamwork! While nothing that Ray (or the other guitarist, Dan Sawyer) does is mind-blowing or innovative, he does a wonderful job of keeping up with and, often, matching melody lines with Jean-Luc. (9.25/10)

5. "Waving Memories" (5:43) solid Third Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion with some elements and motifs entering the realms of Jazz-Funk and Smooth Jazz. The main detriment to this song, despite its stellar performances, is the lack of defining melodies and sometimes disparate sound stylings that don't always mesh together so perfectly. (8.875/10)

6. "Echoes Of The Future" (3:09) heavily-treated/delayed & echoed synth violin partnered with heavily-treated muted guitar and deep synthesized violin washes. Though there might be guitar and keyboard synthesizer present, I suspect (knowing Jean-Luc's "I can do everything" penchant) that it's all multi-track stuff coming from his violins. It is, without question, however, pretty cool; a precursor to Cosmic Messenger's amazing opening title song. (9/10)

7. "Bowing Bowing" (4:53) nice four-chord vamp sound palette over which Jean-Luc and Patrice take turns soloing with their weirdest synthetic sounds. Even Dave Sawyer gets some time near the front as he mirrors and provides harmonic accompaniment to Jean-Luc's melody making with his electric guitar. Glad Jean-Luc finally gave the dude some exposure. Nice tune. (8.875/10)

8. "Fight For Life" (4:34) opens like some kind of wah-wah-ed ZZ TOP or LED ZEPPELIN song with a three-chord vamp set in place from the first note to support Jean-Luc and Ray Parker, Jr.'s solos. Unfortunately, Ray's solo in the third minute is way too distorted and flanged down. Then around 2:40 there is a very weird sudden gradual speed up--as if the 1950 Ford Fairlane's pedal is put to the metal. Once top speed has been achieved Jean-Luc really flies--like a hungry swallow--while the rhtyhm section holds super tight beneath. A weird song that has some truly awesome parts and some parts that leave me scratching my head. (8.875/10)

Total Time 36:38

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent near-masterpiece of prime Jean-Luc Ponty music--the first to achieve that signatory sound that he would master for the next 20 years. There are, however, still kinks to work out--which makes sense since Jean- Luc has an entirely new entourage of collaborators and a brand new record company. But, the gate is open for his incredible run of 15 years of masterful albums.

A gathering of giants: all Ponty compositions performed in a genuine, fully-electrified Jazz-Rock Fusion style and sound.

1. "Bowing-Bowing" (6:28) right from the get-go the sound palette of this band (and recording) has much more in common with the Jazz-Rock Fusion mainstream than Jean-Luc's previous albums. The sounds, structure, chords and melodies all have the warm feel of a peak-era Jean-Luc Ponty composition. Great support from all of the support crew- -especially Tony Bonfils on electric bass--though Maurice Vander's piano is almost saccharine sweet and André Ceccarelli's drum play is mixed too far in the back (and he plays much harder than is necessary). (9/10)

2. "Golden Green" (4:42) the melodies explored by Jean-Luc and Stéphane here feel like something from a stage musical: they're quite swinging and sweeping and melodramatic in that oh-so romantic way. Quite a lovely uptempo song. (9.25/10)

3. "Memorial Jam For Stuff Smith" (6:54) Stuff Smith was a pioneering jazz musician--a violinist--who also recorded at Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer's studio in the Black Forest but who died a few years before this recording--and artist that both Jean-Luc and Stéphane had worked with. The music is great with more traditional cabaret & stage musical styles being used by all of the instrumentalists. Though there are electrified instruments being used, they sound more like a modern "rock orchestra" in a pit in front of the stage supporting the stage players. Some really nice solos and play here, and even some cool tempo and motif shifts. (13.5/15)

4. "Violin Summit No. 2" (9:56) Shaft-like cymbal play, funky bass and electric piano, and electric guitar "power chords" support the soloing of the two violinists. But then around 1:28 Philip Catherine's blistering electric guitar run signals the band to switch into more of a Soul/R&B rhythm pattern for the motif to support Stéphane's upcoming solo. At 3:19 everybody makes way for Philip to again assert himself with some dirty/raunchy electric guitar soloing. His tone is very much akin to something Ernie Isley is using in his 3 + 3 solos. At the five minute mark Jean-Luc shows up with his fully- electrified and wah-wahed violin for some solo time. The band's R&B funk beneath is so fluid and engaging--and Philip Catherine's lead rhythm guitar play just beneath Jean-Luc is wonderful! Philip's rockin' chord play takes us out of the electric violin solo and then sets us up for what turns out to be an unusually long (for Jean-Luc) solo is given to drummer André Ceccarelli in the eighth and ninth minutes. (90 seconds!) The band then returns to the opening motif for the final 90 seconds. Now this is some great First Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion! (18.75/20)

5. "Valerie" (7:00) a very swinging electrified jazz tune--there's almost a Latin/Smooth Jazz quality to the rhythm pattern--while Stéphane, Philip, and Jean-Luc share the introduction of the lead in a three-musician weave over the first minute. Maurice and Tony are great with their electric piano and electric bass, keeping the song moving at a very nice country-road cruising speed for the light and fresh air solos being expostulated by the trio up top. Again, this is very evolved "First Wave" Jazz-Rock Fusion: some of the first to sound like so much of the Smooth Jazz fare that will take over in the second half of the decade. (One more time I get this distinct, nagging feel that Jean-Luc has "borrowed" someone else's melody to build his song over.) (14/15)

Total time 35:00

After hearing the MPS-produced previous to this one I must admit to being (pleasantly) shocked at the music on this album. At the same time, I'm glad Jean-Luc was able to try out a more loose and dissonant jazz-rock (and get it out of his system) with 1972's Open Strings, but I am quite grateful to hear the more melodic and elegant music here on this album that will become his trademark over the next 20 years. I'm also quite curious to know what 65-year old Stéphane Grappelli thought of the music he was being asked to participate in creating as it must have been quite different from anything that he'd done before. Also, this album contains some of the most impressive Philip Catherine play I've ever heard. And who is and whatever happened to Tony Bonfils?

A-/five stars; a fresh and wonderfully upbeat minor masterpiece of top-notch whole-band performance of First Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion. HIghly recommended to any and all lovers of J-R Fusion.

Recorded at MPS studios in Villingen, Germany (one of two albums Jean-Luc recorded with engineer/producer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer for the MPS label), the sound palette of the album is much closer to those of classic jazz of the Sixties with a little free-jazz and Tony Williams-like energy thrown at us.

1. "Flipping, Part I" (4:38) McCoy Tyner-like piano opens this as a oboe/soprano saxophone-sounding violin joins in bringing in the melody over the top. Traditional jazz-sounding drums and double bass join in, filling out the sonic field. This sounds a lot like a variation on John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme." Joachim K'hn's four-chord piano motif is so robotic while Jean-Luc's rudimentarily-electrified violin is way too loud in the mix, between the two of them I can barely hear the much more dynamic and adventurous drums and bass. (I wish the engineering mix had been better.) Obviously, Jean-Luc's John McLaughlin-like violin style was at play here--and his compositional acumen had not matured beyond imitation yet: it's all imitative. And I definitely can hear no presence of guitar here. (8.66667/10)

2. "Flipping, Part II" (10:38) There's the guitar! While I really like the country-folk sound of Jean-Luc's violin, I appreciate more the active interplay of the background musicians: even though they are quite interactive, they blend and weave exceedingly well no matter who is in the lead position (Jean-Luc, Philip, or Joachim). I find Joachim's play to be the most intriguing and enjoyable as he has a wonderful way of using space within and between his phrasing. (Not unlike Rainer Br'nignhaus in a few years.) As a matter of fact, the more sparse the instrumental palette, the more interesting and beautiful are the solos being played. (The second half.) (17.875/20)

3. "Flipping, Part III" (5:31) this section of the song suite is dominated by the unusual phenomenon of a violinist plucking and strumming--aggressively--his instrument while an electric guitar solos away with him and, later, over the top. Though not always very melodic, this section is very interesting! And Philip Catherine shows his guitar skills and maturing command of free-form jazz in his often atonal and dissonant yet technically-skilled solos. Unfortunately, the contributions of Peter Warren, Oliver Johnson, and Joachim K'hn feel random, disconnected, and almost wasted. (8.75/10)

4. "Open Strings" (14:50) this song opens with two tracks dedicated to Jean-Luc's solo violin, but then the piano-based rhythm section band joins in (still based within acoustic instrumentation), at first supporting Jean-Luc but then becoming more boisterous and dynamic as Joachim takes the lead. Again, there is a rather "wild" and joyful "freedom" being expressed by the band despite a very solid (and sometimes familiar) melody being the foundation upon which the entire song revolves. Jean-Luc's mic'ed violin is never really far from sounding melodic or "pretty"--except when he purposely slurs a note into flatness or sharpness--whereas Joachim, Peter, Oliver, and, later, Philip's allegiance to said melody is far less obvious. (Philip's only presence is felt in his solo during the 11th minute; I do not hear his presence at all as part of the rhythm section.) But: Free jazz? Not seriously--especially not if one is listening to the bandleader. That first "full band" frenetic section and the duplicate end section could be construed as such, otherwise the band is just "stretching their legs." (26.5/30)

5. "Sad Ballad" (4:12) the lone Joachim K'hn composition starts out with the band gently supporting Jean-Luc's violin playing a slow, plaintive melody, but the music enters the "open field" in the middle with each musician going totally off book before coming back together for an end that mirrors the beginning. I like the main motif; it definitely previews many of Jean-Luc's more memorable melodies in future albums. (8.875/10)

Total time 39:49

I was not expecting the sound palette to be so close to acoustic jazz: Jean-Luc had obviously not yet discovered the synthesized effects and electric collaborators that he became so famous for later. The music of Open Strings does not feel quite as free and loose as many reviewers have disparagingly affixed to it: there is plenty of structure, discipline, comradery, and even melody on display here. Also, this is not the first time that Jean-Luc would gravitate to the side- long suite form as he did here for "Flipping"; as a matter of fact several times in the Seventies--and get better at it with each attempt.

B/four stars; an album of alternatingly entertaining and irritating songs and motifs all presented with impressive musicianship and respectable improvisational acumen. Ultimately, however, this qualifies as one of my least favorite J- L P albums.

The landmark collaboration between rock music's only successful jazz-rock fusionist and the ever-expanding, ever- adventurous, boundary-pushing virtuoso violinist. The Frank Zappa-penned (and produced) songs contain all of the jazz- and modern classical-underpinnings and eccentricities that Frank loved to put into all of his compositions-- especially during this period of his career--and, of course, they all contained at least some presence of the humor that he was so famous for--in both the music as well as the song titles.

1. "King Kong" (4:54) opens like a sterile, mostly rote playing of Frank's charts--at least, that is, until George Duke's dirty electric piano solo at the end of the first minute. Jean-Luc gets his turn a minute later as George, Frank, Buell Neidlinger, and Art Tripp support with some minimally-miked, poorly engineered funky jazz-rock. Gene Estes' vibes are about the only thing that sound well-rendered. I love the tempo shift beneath Jean-Luc at 4:30. (8.875/10)

2. "Idiot Bastard Son" (4:00) a slow dirge that sounds tongue-in-cheek despite the awesome drumming from John Guerin. Following the charts was surely not an easy task due to the numerous stop-and-changes, but bassist Wilton Fender does an admirable job of remaining melodic and smooth in spite of this. Jean-Luc's playing is as good as might be expected but nowhere as dynamically earth-shattering as they will become in the coming six or seven years. The corny entrance and play of the dragging horn section at the three-minute mark are laughable despite everyone's remarkable synchronization with the complex tempo and melody shifts. (8.875/10)

3. "Twenty Small Cigars" (5:35) slow and deliberate, the weave of multiple melody-holders in Jean-Luc, Ernie Watts, Wilton Felder, and Gene Estes, and George Duke is beautiful with each holding his own but interlocked and interwoven to perfection. A beautiful, fully-realized song. (9/10)

4. "How Would You Like to Have a Head Like That" (7:14) another beautifully rendered song (even in its sound engineering) over which Ernie Watts gets a lot of front time with his alto sax and George Duke Fender Rhodes satisfies in both support/rhythm and lead roles. Frank even gets a solo on this one--wah-wah-ed and not too flashy but fully plugged in. This feels like a song that could very well have inspired Eumir Deodato when he was scoring and pulling together his ensemble for his Prelude album and specifically the "Also Sprach Zarathustra" hit. (13.5/15)

5. "Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra" (19:20) A fully-classical composition of the Edgar Varese school of worship (as Frank was a fully-fledge and very vocal member). The first four minutes see the horns and classical orchestral instruments holding the line (under the supervision of Frank's very competent underling, Ian Underwood) while the jazz musicians kind of sit back and listen or minimally support. But then, in that fifth minute, the jazz combo takes over, with acoustic instrumentage--including a wonderful George Duke piano presence. (This is such a revelation of his extreme talent! Makes me want to hear more of his stupendous piano playing!) Jean-Luc, of course, is also present, in lead and support. At 8:25 there is a break and then the start up of a third movement--this one returning to the use of the orchestra, but here in an accompaniment role as Art Tripp's drums, Buell Neidlinger's bass, George's piano, and Jean-Luc's violin continue: it's just that everyone in the orchestra kind of doubles up or accents the jazzers' play. The entrance and presence of electric piano, electric bass, and electric piano is noticeable in the 12th minute as the "distant" electric piano sounds very much like those on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. This opens up a kind of avant/free jazz spell before every falls back into gentle melody-making around the 12-minute mark. But then things get loose and chaotic again by the end of the 13th minute. At 13:18 a low squirt from Ernie Watts' tenor sax signals another shift: this one to piano and vibes-led frenetic percussion play over which the rest of the orchestral mostly contributes smooth, calming chords (until they don't). The final movement begins at 15:17 as the instrumental palette returns to jazz combo-orientation, but the orchestral members remain on high alert for their near-constant contributions of subtle support and fill. Despite the feeling of smoothness here, the music is nowhere near simple--as the rhythmically-complex 18th minute soon shows in spades. The finish then sounds like a parody of some pompous British processional, though Jean-Luc and the pacifying orchestra get to play the rather beautiful final notes. I have to say: I love Frank Zappa's "classical" and jazz compositions! This one stands right up there with all the rest: like a more- serious "Lumpy Gravy." (38/40)

6. "America Drinks and Goes Home" (2:39) a real Jazz/New Orleans jazz feeling song with George Duke again playing acoustic piano with John Guerin's drums, Wilton Felder's bass, Gene Estes' vibes, and Jean-Luc's very disciplined violin all helping to realize this very complex, very stop-and-go composition. (4.375/5)

Total Time 43:42

A-/five stars; another minor masterpiece from Frank Zappa and his jazz orchestra. Though Jean-Luc gets the top billing, this is really the result of Frank's creative artistry. Highly recommended--especially for those who, like me, love Frank's music compositions yet can be turned off by his often sophomoric lyrics; this one's all instrumental!

Ponty leads this stellar ensemble in Post-Bop Glory.

Still plenty early in the career of this soon-to-be Fusion pioneer, Electric Connection is a light-Fusion album, more or less Mr. Ponty's fourth studio solo release. Most notable, I would say, is the featuring of the late, great George Duke on piano, and, Duke being the bridge between Ponty and Frank Zappa (with whom George played; in Frank's mid-70s Fusion band), Hot Rats drummer Paul Humphrey is also present. The year is 1969 and these guys kept busy.

"Summit Soul" is a quick-to-the-punch opener, with a great theme. Awesome guitar solo up front by Wilbert Longmire before Jean-Luc's own. With this fuller ensemble of musicians, in particular horns, there are elements here reminiscent to contemporaries Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears (I realize I talk about them a lot, but to me, they are early Jazz Rock). On "Hypomode De Sol", we enter into the Blues, a cool, smooth track. This band was hot. And I'm a huge fan of Jean-Luc, and his solo here is wonderful. Midway, they pick up the pace all, set to a blaze. The violin is in wonderful contrast to the sharp stabs from the horns. Up next, the ensemble covers the Simon & Garfunkel rendition of "Scarborough Fair" (with "Canticle"). Very lovely; more than cool to hear Folk-Jazz or whatever you might call this.

Up next, we have "The Name Of The Game", which honestly enough sounds at first like some TV theme song. But once they get rolling, we are truly in it. Great track, fairly straight ahead, but it gets real good with the sax solo. Definitely a moment I wish I could give specific credit (it's either Richard Aplar on baritone or Bud Shank on alto). To go back to the Zappa connection, it sort of reminded me of the distinct muted sax solos performed by Bunk Gardner of the Mothers. Enter cool swing with me on "The Loner". Delicious, and now that I'm thinking on it very of the decade, something distinctly '60s about its vibe. The intro though is something else... I assume just heavy, heavy reverb used on the violin. A very cool effect, especially for the time. This one is certainly straight-ahead, but will appeal to fans of the 'purer' stuff. 'Jazz', is it?

Ponty & Co. really capture a special sweetness on "Waltz For Clara", another swingin' number with Post-Bop arrangement. George Duke's piano is interposed between Jean-Luc's viol soloing and the rhythm section, featuring occasioned soft stabbings from the horns. There is a very warm and easily-approached quality from the production throughout this album, but this is a great number to showcase that. And then, a flute solo from Tony Ortega! Followed by a wonderfully free solo from Duke. Sweetness shifts into melancholy on the understated, balladic "Forget". Beautiful reprieve before our closer, "Eighty-One". And a helluva vibe on this one. Super cool, with a fantastic groove. Very of-the-time horny sections here. Another moment for drummer Paul Humphrey to shine. And one last heavy-chops solo from George. Awesome.

Another unique item in the Ponty's and Duke's discography, not only because of the names that meet in the Frank Zappa's group again. Both lead players would soon abandon the rich improvisational music that was at its height in 1969-1970 inspired by Miles. Then, we have the first electric album by Duke and he performs some very capable solos or jazz background support for Ponty. I think the strongest cuts are those with more coherent structure such as "Cantaloupe island", "Foosh". Comparing to Miles, we can also hear slight soul-jazz instrumental influences which give it a lighter touch in contrast to intensive numbers like "Starlight, starbright". The rhythm section is purely supportive but competently laying down the pattern.

As Jean-Luc Ponty came out of the 1980s, which for him had mostly been a decade of musical stagnation in which memorable musical moments were far outnumbered by unassuming filler, he decided that it was time for a swift change in musical direction and thus he embraced the concept of world fusion, augmenting his sound with African chanting choirs, rhythms and "tribal" percussion. The result sadly sounds less like a sincere attempt at artistic reinvention and more like a hackneyed attempt at hopping on a semi-popular bandwagon of the time. It clearly did not rejuvenate Ponty's own flame either because the man goes through the motions like never before on this album: there's nothing interesting about these saccharine compositions, his playing rarely impresses, and his violin tone sounds overly slick and processed, which together with the thoroughly lackluster production (with the same muddy bass and flat, unreverberated guitar twiddling about in the background the whole time) only helps to make this a very dull listening experience. The culture of the African continent deserves better representation than this hackwork.

This really comes across as a Ponty/ Zappa collaboration as Frank re-arranged his 6 tracks on here and then plays guitar on one song, the song Ponty composed "How would You Like To Have A Head Like That". They were fans of each others music before Jean-Luc started to play on Zappa albums. Frank's debut was in 1966 and Jean-Luc's in 1964. They have George Duke on electric piano throughout and Ian Underwood on sax on both the opener and closer. He also conducts the 19 1/2 minute "Music For Electric Violin And Low Budget Orchestra". Ian had a Bachelors degree from Yale and a Masters from Berkeley in piano and composing. Interesting that Frank brought in Buell Neidlinger to play bass on the longest track here because he didn't know who else could do it. Buell was at the time playing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra but he played with both Cecil Taylor and Gil Evans in the 50's.

The violin really does dominate the sound overall and this is all instrumental. "King Kong" is such a good way to start as we get this violin led track with bass, drums, vibes and electric piano mostly. Ponty is ripping it up before 3 minutes. "Idiot Bastard Son" has that familiar melody coming and going throughout. You don't need to hear the words when you can sing them. Not big on "Twenty Small Cigars" to be honest. Ponty's track is really good with George showing his stuff along with Frank. Kind of cool that we get a solo from George for about a minute followed by Zappa's guitar solo for about a minute before Ponty returns to end it with the violin. The long song is a trip through different styles and sounds. Conservatory music to Jazz to Avant it's quite the ride. The closer is okay.

Easily a 4 star album for me and no Jean-Luc did nothing else similar to this with his solo stuff but if I had to recommend one of his other solo albums it would be "Enigmatic Ocean".

Teaming up with young up-and-comers Daryl Stuermer (age 23), Patrice Rushen (21), and ex-Mother of Invention bass player Tom Fowler (who was only 25 years old) resulted in Jean-Luc's first successful solo foray into the burgeoning market of Jazz-Rock Fusion. After brief but intense stints with Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra (Second Incarnation), the French violin virtuoso had a pretty good idea of the directions he wanted his career and music to go.

Line-up / Musicians: - Jean-Luc Ponty / acoustic & electric violins, Violectra, autoharp, arranger & producer With: - Daryl Stuermer (future GENESIS/PHIL COLLINS) / acoustic & electric guitars - Patrice Rushen / acoustic & electric pianos, synthesizer - Tom Fowler (IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY, FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION) / bass - Norman Fearrington (MFSB, BILLY PAUL, future EDDIE HARRIS) / drums, percussion

1. "Is Once Enough?" (4:52) a fast cruisin' song that band leader Ponty graciously gives first dibs on extended solo time to his newbies: first to a very impressive Daryl Stuermer and then to keyboard virtuoso Patrice Rushen. A song that very much reflects Jean-Luc's recent experiences with both Zappa and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. (9.5/10)

2. "Renaissance" (5:45) an all-time great song of Jean-Luc's that harkens back a bit to his youth and to his fairly recent acoustic collaborations with Stéphane Grappelli. One of the things that makes this song so wonderful is the long drawn out melodies being played up front over the amazing bass melodies coming from not only the bass but Patrice Rushen's left hand and Daryl Stuermer's rhythm guitar support. (10/10) 3. "Aurora, Pt. 1" (2:45) innocuous and trite, mostly for the bouncy little keyboard sound and pattern that plays repetitively over the course of the song. This alone might not be so irksome were it not for the fact that it sits up front the entire time. Nothing special in the solos. Nothing special in the groove. Could've thrown this one away. Perhaps it served the band as an exercise in integrating and merging the sounds and styles of the five personalities involved with the making of this album. I would not be surprised to find out that this was the first song worked on when the band first got together. (4.25/5)

4. "Aurora, Pt. 2" (6:11) a smooth, easy going song that portends a lot of J-L P songs in the next decade. Nice shredding from Daryl on his own in the fourth and fifth minutes, but more impressive is the way he and Jean-Luc double up on harmonic paths at hyperspeeds on several occasions. Impressive but not as great as the first two songs. (8.875/10)

5. "Passenger Of The Dark" (4:14) has a kind of Canterbury feel to its opening, but then we go into an interesting "future funk" kind of sound with semi-funky bass and oscillating synth/violin notes weaving a patttern together with the drums that plays for the first two minutes over which Daryl starts out with an aggressive rock-like solo. In the softer, more spacious third minute Jean-Luc experiments with some of his new electronic/synthesized violin sounds--some of which his audience become quite familiar over the course of the next decade. I'm not sure why Patrice has been given almost exclusively background support roles for the past two songs, but it's noticeable. (8.75/10) 6. "Lost Forest" (5:23) roilling piano arpeggi and ocean-shore-like cymbal play opens this one while Jean-Luc presents his synthesized violin sound. In the gorgeous, rich full-band motif that develops Tom Fowler's effected (underwater) bass sound is awesome. Jean-Luc introduces the song's main theme before bowing out to let Patrice express her own ideas/variations with a Fender Rhodes. Then, in the fourth minute, Jean-Luc resumes his place at the fore with a typically melodic and dynamically impressive solo, which then is doubled up in the recapitulation of the opening theme with Daryl's guitar while Patrice plays around a bit from underneath. Such a cool song and songscape! Arise: Master of the Hypnotic Fairie Beauty! (9.125/10)

7. "Between You And Me" (5:54) a melodic song that somehow lets bassist Tom Fowler lead the way!(?) Pretty awesome. Though not funky, it is a catchy groove that Tom, Patrice, and drummer Norman Fearrington present and hold fast. Jean-Luc's electric violin seers an impressive solo in the first slot. When the band recongeals, it is with the same jazzy weave that Tom's bass lead us in with. Next up is Patrice with a very warm and smooth Fender Rhodes solo (the whole song is warm and almost smooth). Jean-Luc reclaims the spotlight for the next verse for a brief solo before calling the band back in for another go-round of the opening weave. Nice. (9/10)

8. "Waking Dream" (2:24) pensive piano chord play opens this before electric bass and electric violin and electric guitar join in to co-present an interesting melody--one that at first is perfectly harmonized by Tom's bass lines but then see him fall into a kind of one-bar counterpoint. Nice. (4.425/5)

Total Time: 37:28

Despite the fact that I owned this album back in the day, it feels fresh to me today, and yet, at the same time, revelatory of many of Jean-Luc's consistent future patterns and tricks of his trade. It was the next studio album, Imaginary Voyage that hooked me in as a devoté (and concert attendee) over the next ten years. I've also watched with no small sadness at the way keyboard virtuoso Patrice Rushen's career has slowly been whitewashed of her keyboard talent in place of her success as a singer. I've always loved her warm keyboard playing. I would think that this album helped significantly to serve each and every one of the performers in advancing their careers.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion, the first of a long line of them for this J-R Fusion master.

In the albums compiled here, Ponty's music is, as usual, full of resources that you can see coming for a good while before they reach you, but still, when they do so, they really get you. We can hear, e.g., the enveloping arpeggio by the electric guitar setting mood and ambiance for what's coming, the wha-wha processed funky bass emulating a duck-like excited voice, and the sensible legato on the electric violin, house brand of the artist. Let's see and compare:

CD 1 "A Taste for Passion": A step back from Ponty's 'classic period' 1975-78, but, still so, a classy & catchy jazz-fusion effort, even when turned milder than one might desire.

CD 2 "Jean-Luc Ponty Live": Great live performance, reflecting the arc of studio releases that gave Ponty's career its greatest momentum, from "Aurora" to "Cosmic Messenger".

CD 3 "Civilized Evil": A certain tecno twist crept in at this point (machines were taking over the world by then), but, at least, the bass lines ceased to be so overtly funky.

CD 4 "Mystical Adventures": Better, yet with some tecno relapse. Nice soloing by Jean-Luc, including his graceful flamenco touch.

CD 5 "Individual Choice": Rather run out of ideas, to my taste at least, but still listenable.