Jean Luc Ponty & His Band Of Maniacs
Last night, Yours Truly attended a Jean Luc Ponty concert. Ponty may not be such a reknowned name, but I’ll bet that most of his songs sound familiar to any relatively big music fan. This guy was the first to introduce violin to jazz and rock, one of “the masters of fusion”, as they call him. The SOB graduated from the Paris Music Conservatory at 18 and has been playing like a madman ever since. He’s been called upon by the likes of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Elton John, John McLaughlin and FRANK fucking ZAPPA. If you had any doubts, that’s when you know this guy kicks ass.
Ok, so he played last night and I went to see him. Let me tell you, 2 hours is not enough. I know they were about to have 5 heart attacks each after playing like that for 2 hours straight and after 2 encores, but man, I would’ve grabbed a whip and made them play till sunrise.
Jean Luc Ponty and his band are basically 4 guys who have sold their souls to satan himself in exchange for superhuman musical abilities. The drummer - a guy who looks no older that 20 - looked like he was about to spontaneously combust about 3 times during one of his deliciously long drum solos. The guy seemed like two different people were playing, man, his feet did one rock-solid, steady rythm while his hands changed tempos on the snare like there’s no tomorrow. If ANYBODY owns the drums on the planet, it’s this guy. Jesus christ.
Needless to say, Ponty was something worth shedding tears over. At one point he busted out an electric blue violin and started ripping that shit apart, I wanted to throw myself off the balcony.
The bassist, a cuban-looking guy from Cameroon has been playing with him for 18 years and my god, does that man know how to slap. He smiled and danced around from start to finish - but who wouldn’t smile all day long if they played like that?
Finally, the keyboard player, an eccentric-looking man whose fingers seemes possessed by some divine power, couldn’t keep to his seat most of the time as if electrified or amazed by what his own hands were doing. Honestly, there’s not better way to describe it. Unfuckingbelievable.
The band played mostly songs from the new album, The Atacama Experience, but also mashed up songs from albums from the 60s, 70s and 80s, like Enigmatic Ocean.
You should always be open to new things, especially when it comes to music. No one can deny that Jazz is one of the most influential and fundamental genres in music, and was a huge factor in the birth of rock. So, if you see Ponty’s band coming somewhere near you, don’t hesitate to check them out because it’s amazing.