AURORA

This album holds a special place in my heart. If I ever have heart surgery, I'll have to remind the surgeon to watch out for it. Back in the seventies, for high school credit, I interned (along with another student) at a Boston NPR radio station. We would spend long hours in an engineering booth editing reel-to-reel tapes. There were two albums in the booth: this one, and The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band "Gorilla". We would alternate these albums during our breaks. We came to love them both.

As far as I'm concerned, this was one of Jean-Luc Ponty's best albums. His Zappa influence is more prominent than on any other of his albums, except "King Kong", obviously. It also helps to have Zappa bassist Tom Fowler on board. The compositions are complex. The band is exceptional.

While no track on the album is bad, the best is Passenger Of The Dark, where not only does Ponty shine, but guitarist Daryl Stuermer plays a blistering solo.

To me, this is THE Ponty album to own.