AURORA

It was June 1991 and was in Miami for business, but it was the chance for a Peruvian to buy his first CD player, and having some money to spare (because I was hosted on an aunt's house) decided to buy at least 40 Cd's. But living in a country were Prog' was almost unknown, the record stores were like toy land for a kid, there was so much to buy, so decided to explore unknown musicians (at least by me).

I had heard comments about Jean-Luc Ponty and knew about his work with Mahavishnu Orchestra, so I asked the clerk about him. Luckily he was a proghead and told me to buy "Aurora" and if after that I still liked his music, I should get more stuff, so I followed his advice.

That night I listened the CD and was incredibly surprised, Fusion was never my favorite genre but this album was impressive, the amazing music of Jean-Luc was closer to Symphonic Prog than I ever could imagine, his style and skills are simply outstanding, delicate and strong at the same time, perfectly supported by a group of talented musicians that included Darryl Stuermer.

The album starts with the extreme violence and energy of "Is Once Enough", in this song despite the clear talent of Ponty, the real star is Patrice Rushen on keyboards, who not only supports the violin of Ponty but takes almost the lead role with her perfect style and sound. Darryl does also a great semi solo that proves he's one of the best Jazz guitar players and should never waste his time and talent with the declining Genesis of the 80's and 90's.

"Renaissance" is a calmed track made specially by and for Jean-Luc Ponty, his incredibly beautiful violin is perfectly supported by the soft and could say atmospheric drumming of Norman Ferrington, a good change of speed after the breathtaking opener.

Of course "la piece de resistance" is "Aurora" which is divided in two parts, the first one flows gently, even when you can perfectly listen all the band, the strong and distinctive sound of Ponty's violin is the star.

"Aurora" Pt 2 is more rhythmic and a better chance for the rest of the band to prove their skills, impressive bass playing by Tom Fowler taking the lead with Ponty, not as beautiful as the first part but still a perfect complement. The violin solo in the middle is outstanding.

"Passenger of the Dark" is as it's name describes more obscure and atmospheric than the previous tracks, basically is a violin solo supported by the rest of the band and a very strong guitar by Stuermer, again I wonder why Daryl didn't made all his career playing Fusion when he clearly feels more comfortable in this genre.

"Lost Forest" is in the same vein as the previous track, the dark atmospheres are preeminent over the solos and as the song develops it's clear that Jean-Luc Ponty is a fusion musician but can't leave behind his classical formation and clear Symphonic influences, something that makes his music even richer. Again Patrice Rushen is brilliant with her soft keyboards and piano, excellent song.

"Between You and Me" is weaker in comparison with all the previous material, closer to pure jazz than the rest of the songs, the band falls in the common mistake of the jazz players giving more importance to improvisation than to melody and structure, not bad but weaker.

"Waking Dream" is a very good closer, again atmospheric and melodic, returning to a more eclectic style than to clear Jazz Fusion, mysterious and dark, somehow haunting and incredibly beautiful, maybe too short, but it's said that a good musician always leaves the listener asking for more rather than tired of endless songs.

The next day I bought 4 more Jean-Luc Ponty albums because my first encounter with his solo work couldn't be better..

5 solid stars for the one of the best Jean-Luc Ponty solo albums, an unusually high rating for a proghead not too close to Fusion, but when something is great, we can't deny it.