Free Action by Wolfgang Dauner , released on SABA in 1967.

Review by Ken Dryden

...This adventurous session of originals by the pianist includes violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, tenor saxophonist/clarinetist Gerd Dudek, cellist Eberhard Weber, bassist Jürgen Karg, and two drummers, Mani Neumeier and Fred Braceful. Although Dauner is the leader, he treats himself as part of the ensemble and doesn't overly dominate the performances. The music alternates between accessible melodies reminiscent of Charles Mingus in spots, though there is often a quick transformation into much looser frameworks where chord structure and rhythm is quickly abandoned...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om7hOtsDOF0&list=RDOm7hOtsDOF0&start_radio=1

#WolfgangDauner #JeanLucPonty #ManiNeumeier #EberhardWeber #SABA #MusikProduktionSchwarzwald #GerdDudek #Jazz #FreeJazz #Music

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Free Action by Wolfgang Dauner, released on SABA in 1967.

Review by Ken Dryden

This adventurous session of originals by the pianist includes violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, tenor saxophonist/clarinetist Gerd Dudek, cellist Eberhard Weber, bassist Jürgen Karg, and two drummers, Mani Neumeier and Fred Braceful. Although Dauner is the leader, he treats himself as part of the ensemble and doesn't overly dominate the performances. The music alternates between accessible melodies reminiscent of Charles Mingus in spots, though there is often a quick transformation into much looser frameworks where chord structure and rhythm is quickly abandoned. The exotic disguise adds Neumeier on tabla, though Ponty's slashing violin is similar to his avant-garde leaning records as a leader during this period....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om7hOtsDOF0

#WolfgangDauner #MPS #Jazz #FreeJazz #Music #JeanLucPonty #EberhardWeber #ManiNeumeier #GuruGuru

King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa is an album by French jazz fusion artist Jean-Luc Ponty first released in May 1970 on Liberty Records' World Pacific Records subsidiary label.

Rolling Stone's Bob Palmer called it "one of the most rewarding and boundary-obliterating collaborations" and said "Zappa, donning his Jazz Composer - Arranger suit, emerges as a first-rate practitioner of the art: his previous lack of acceptance by the jazz community is probably due to the same bizarre touches that endear him to his younger audiences. Here he is reminiscent of Charles Mingus, not musically (except for the Mingus-like melody and violin-tenor voicing of "Twenty Small Cigars") but in the way he examines and finds new expressive possibilities in his earlier pieces, and combines them with new music that refers to wide areas of experience without centring in any one stylistic bag." - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdyhmdc57JU&list=OLAK5uy_lhWbtry_0VkRJ-XdCUDoYGvq1VBk_8nZU

#JeanLucPonty #FrankZappa #JazzViolin #Music #GeorgeDuke

Astrorama by Jean-Luc Ponty & Masahiko Sato, released on Liberty in 1970.

Astrorama Review by Ken Dryden

Jean-Luc Ponty recorded for a number of labels prior to his signing to Atlantic in the early '70s. He joined forces with Japanese keyboardist Masahiko Satoh, the great bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, guitarist Yoshiaki Masuo, and drummer Motohiko Hino for this studio date. "Golden Green" is best known from his 1976 meeting with Stéphane Grappelli; this longer version features Ponty's expressive violin, an understated electric piano solo by Satoh, and the virtuoso playing of Pedersen, with Masuo sitting out. Both "Astrorama" and "Nuggis" were performed by Ponty the following year at the Berlin Jazz Festival, though on this session, they are joined in a long medley..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZTTaLeWe40&list=RDUZTTaLeWe40&start_radio=1

#MasahikoSato #JeanLucPonty #NielsHenningOrstedPedersen #YoshiakiMasuo #Jazz #Fusion #JazzRock #JapaneseJazz #Music #jazzviolin

Electric Connection is one of four American recordings Jean-Luc Ponty made in 1969. In 1969 was it was released on vinyl by World Pacific Jazz

Electric Connection Review by Scott Yanow

The innovative violinist Jean-Luc Ponty was making a strong impression in the United States in 1969, a year in which he made four notable American recordings that solidified his reputation a few years before he formed his own fusion band. For this little-known effort, Ponty is joined by a big band arranged by Gerald Wilson and including pianist George Duke (an important early collaborator), altoist Bud Shank, flutist Tony Ortega and guitarist Wilbert Longmire. Highlights include "Summit Soul," Ponty's "Hypomode Del Sol" (which sticks effectively to one chord) and Ron Carter's "Eighty-One."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwELbvukIY0&list=OLAK5uy_kL_vJnnttOgAuDhDHQFkYSBXGfYhCg904

#jeanlucponty #jazzviolin #georgeduke #budshank #geraldwilson #WorldPacific #jazz

This Is One Of Those Dept : Our creative #Civilization at Peak musically circa 1994. It may not come our way again so be appraised or you and yours may never know there was such a thing…

#ADimeola, #StanleyClarke and #JeanLucPonty - Full Concert | Live at North Sea #Jazz Festival 1994
https://youtu.be/CQso-tJL3d8?si=8jCnrd4nkPYwa_dw

More than Meets the Ear Review by Scott Yanow

Jean-Luc Ponty made a strong impression with his appearance at the 1967 Monterey Jazz Festival. Just barely 26 at the time of this obscure but worthy album (his first to appear on an American label), Ponty is teamed with pianist George Gruntz, trumpeter Carmell Jones, altoist Leo Wright, drummer Daniel Humair and an unidentified bassist. In addition to five originals by either Ponty or Gruntz, they perform a pair of pop songs (including Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata") and the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." Already a very original player, Ponty's style at this early point was far beyond hard bop and looked a little toward both pop and John Coltrane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flZTC9AJt7M&list=PLJoHEixldsJg0uY_WmU_OxYN2M7IeAGo-&index=1

#jeanlucponty #jazzviolin #thebeatles #jazz #montereyjazz