ENIGMATIC OCEAN

A high-class late 1970s fusion album from Jean-Luc Ponty, with unexpectedly catchy tunes showing a very mild (but quite noticeable) disco and funk influence. Whilst the idea of disco fusion might sound disastrous, Ponty and his backing musicians show superb judgement in precisely how much disco they allow to creep in, hitting a perfect balance where they use enough to keep things vibrant, energetic, upbeat and catchy, without going too far into schmaltzy kitsch territory. Ponty also makes sure to get the best use out of the talent available to him, the electric guitar contributions of Allan Holdsworth being particularly high quality.