A Conversation with Jean-Luc Ponty – HuffPost 8.22.14
Mike Ragogna: Jean-Luc, you are one of the most famous and most revered violinists in the world. You must hear and read that occasionally. What is your reaction to being thought of in that way?
Jean-Luc Ponty: The most rewarding is the respect I get from young and even very young generations of violinists, including a few stars in the classical music world whom I admire very much. It feels good to know that my crazy experiences did not go unnoticed and are still appreciated today. But then I have to prove I deserve this respect every time I play.
MR: You almost stuck with the saxophone. At least in the early years, did you veer have a little regret for switching to violin?
JLP: No regret at all. I played sax as long as jazz was only a hobby, but when I developed a passion for it I switched to violin on which I had much greater technical abilities, so I knew I could go much further creatively with violin.
MR: What is it about the instrument or your interaction with it that led you to push creative boundaries?
JLP: Violin was not my passion, music was, which is why I did not hesitate to have instruments of different colors and shapes, to add electronic effects, transform the sound into something totally different as the music I create is and has always been more important than the instrument.
MR: What’s the story behind Elton John inviting you to play on his Honky Chateaualbum?
JLP: I think he had just discovered my playing on King Kong, one of my first American albums recorded in 1969. He was recording with his band near Paris in a castle ….”chateau” in French…..reason why the album was called Honky Chateau….I was living in Paris and he asked someone to find me and invited me to play on his album. I had heard he was a very talented pop singer and went mostly by curiosity, not knowing he was so famous and that this album would be so successful worldwide.
MR: How big an influence was Frank Zappa or John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra on how you approached music during and after your tenures with them? Did their styles or approaches “teach” you anything specific that changed how you looked at music or were you all just traveling the same path creatively?
JLP: I had started on a similar path when I formed a band with George Duke, but I was still shy as a composer because what I wrote did not really fit traditional jazz or rock. Frank and John were very bold at letting their inspiration lead their composing without boundaries, the result was revolutionary. Their music was not a direct influence on mine but their approach and strong leadership were a big encouragement at pursuing my own concept.
MR: You also are featured on Chick Corea’s heartfelt, iconic album My Spanish Heart. When you listened back to your contributions and even the album as a whole, what were your thoughts?
JLP: This album reflects that period when the music world was very attentive to the most adventurous musicians like Chick, instead of the formatting that is so prevalent today. Young violinists I meet around the world consider the track I collaborated on as a classic. I am glad I toured with Chick and Return to Forever in 2011 and had a chance to do even better than on this album.
MR: You first became popular at a time when jazz embraced what would later be called “new age.” As that was happening and you were being categorized with artists like Paul Winter and Paul Horn, what was your reaction to that?
JLP: You must be very young Mike….laughs….my career started way before that,Billboard wrote in 1969 that George Duke and me were doing a unique blend of rock and jazz, this was before critics invented the term “jazz-rock”. New Age appeared around 20 years later, and instrumental music being sometimes hard to categorize ends up in new ones often by mistake. It doesn’t matter, I have never been stuck in any category, some of them have already disappeared, not me…..laughs.
MR: Are there specific things–certain keys, scales or tactile approaches to the instrument–that, in your mind, reveal how Jean-Luc Ponty approaches his music?
JLP: Musicians very often mention my very melodic style as composer and also as improviser, and my special violin sound, so there must be a specific approach but I do it by instinct, I am not analytical and can’t tell you specifically why and how I do it.
MR: Do you have a favorite solo album that you’ve recorded and what about it is so endearing?
JLP: I am like many other artists who answer that albums are like children, you have no favorite and love something in all of them. More than albums there are some tunes that remain among my favorites from most recent albums as well as from early ones.
MR: How did your affiliation with former Yes lead vocalist Jon Anderson come about and how did this new band together come about?
JLP: We crossed paths many years ago and exchanged compliments on each other’s music and Jon even mentioned we should do a project together some day. We came in contact again recently and decided to put a band together, we have many musical affinities and also different musical experiences, which is an ideal combination to push each other into creating something new.
MR: Are there moments while creating and performing music with Jon where you are surprised at how things gel or are you learning something new from the experience?
JLP: I was very impressed when Jon spontaneously sang on a couple of my tunes. It worked so great, I could hardly believe it and only regretted we did not collaborate sooner, but…….better late than never.
MR: What advice do you have for new artists?
JLP: Follow your gut feelings more than advices
MR: What does the future hold for The Anderson Ponty Band?
JLP: We are writing new music and re-arranging some of Jon’s classics and mine, we’ll be rehearsing intensely very soon and doing our first show in Aspen in September, record a CD and DVD and plan a world tour for 2015.