COSMIC MESSENGER

There were four albums of Jean Luc Ponty that became my favorite and I regularly played at my tape deck from my cassette collection: "Cosmic Messenger", "Imaginary Voyage", "Mystical Adventure" and "Enigmatic Ocean". At that time it was kind of change to play these albums after heavily enjoyed other albums from Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Led Zeppelin because Ponty's music is a jazz-rock fusion kind of style.

The album kicks off with an ambient keyboard / violin augmented with guitar fills in "Cosmic Messenger" (4:38) which then followed by the entrance of drums and soaring organ sound that fit beautifully with rhythm section. The tempo is medium and the music creates a magic nuance which fits well if you play it very early in the morning with turning the volume at high level. Really good experience and great joy.

"The Art of Happiness" (4:33) has a more energetic beat compared to the opening track. I like the combined work of guitar rhythm section and drums at the beginning of the track, augmented with dynamic bass lines. The electric guitar work during interlude is really stunning even though it's mixed very thinly. I think this is done intentionally and it creates brilliant result because it makes the beat much more obvious as result of the rhythm section is displayed more than the guitar solo. For me personally, this is brilliant idea! Not even the guitar solo, the main composer's violin solo that comes after the guitar solo is also mixed thinly. I guess Mr. Ponty did control his ego really well. Salute!

"Don't Let the World Pass You By" (6:23) begins with wonderful guitar work and long sustain keyboard work with drums as beat keeper. This straightforward structure lasts for about two minutes at the beginning part until the bass guitar and drums take more roles to bring the music flows energetically. What follows is a wonderful solo improvisation between keyboard and violin with dynamic bass lines and drum beats. This part is probably the most exciting part of any Jean Luc Ponty's music that I also find with other album like "Enigmatic Ocean".

"I Only Feel Good With You" (3:05) is a beautiful mellow music exploring keyboard and violin. This is a very song-oriented composition with good melody. "Puppets' Dance" (3:40) brings the music back into an upbeat style with violin solo augmented with inventive bassline. The other three remaining tracks are also beautifully crafted.

In summary, this album is highly recommended, an excellent addition to any prog music collection. If you like bands like Passport, Deodato, Return To Forever, you may enjoy this album. The composition is not that complex as Return To Forever but all of them are wonderfully composed. Keep on proggin' .!