The Very Best of Jean-Luc Ponty

Amazon.com
The French-born violinist Jean-Luc Ponty bridged the old jazz styles of Stephane Grappelli and Joe Venuti and contemporary stylists such as the late Noel Pointer and Regina Carter. He was schooled in the classics, played with Frank Zappa in the 1960s and with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and George Duke in the '70s. Although his violin and his electrified violectra were staples in the fusion era, his musicality was solidly based in the classics and jazz, as evidenced here by his hornlike phrasing on "Bowing-Bowing" with keyboardist Patrice Rushen and his Cajun intro on "Aurora, Part II." He takes a page from Philip Glass's minimalist riffs on "Mirage," the spacy "Cosmic Messenger," and "No Stings Attached," a fiery live date. There's even a New Age presence with guitarist Joaquin Lievano on "A Taste for Passion." At the end of the day, though, The Very Best of shows abundantly that Ponty could rock out with the best of them. Check out "Infinite Pursuit," a sonic twin to the Police's "Synchronicity," and you'll hear a musician who makes electronics swing in any idiom. --Eugene Holley Jr.

The Very Best of Jean-Luc Ponty,Jean-Luc Ponty,Atlantic / Wea,Crossover Jazz,Fusion,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop

Average customer rating: 4.5 stars- Good compilation A Good Intro To Ponty Good album It s just incredible! Absolutely The Best!

The Very Best of Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music Smooth Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Purists | Warner Brothers Records | Stores | Music Similar Items: Enigmatic Ocean Imaginary Voyage Mystical Adventures A Taste for Passion Cosmic Messenger ASIN: B00004TJ7V Release Date: 2000-06-20

Tracks:

1. Bowing-Bowing
2. Aurora, Part II
3. Renaissance
4. New Country
5. Enigmatic Ocean, Part III
6. Mirage
7. Egocentric Molecules
8. Cosmic Messenger
9. I Only Feel Good With You
10. No Strings Attached (Live)
11. A Taste For Passion
12. Forms Of Life
13. Rhythms Of Hope
14. Final Truth, Part I
15. Individual Choice
16. Infinite Pursuit

Amazon.com

The French-born violinist Jean-Luc Ponty bridged the old jazz styles of Stephane Grappelli and Joe Venuti and contemporary stylists such as the late Noel Pointer and Regina Carter. He was schooled in the classics, played with Frank Zappa in the 1960s and with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and George Duke in the '70s. Although his violin and his electrified violectra were staples in the fusion era, his musicality was solidly based in the classics and jazz, as evidenced here by his hornlike phrasing on "Bowing-Bowing" with keyboardist Patrice Rushen and his Cajun intro on "Aurora, Part II." He takes a page from Philip Glass's minimalist riffs on "Mirage," the spacy "Cosmic Messenger," and "No Stings Attached," a fiery live date. There's even a New Age presence with guitarist Joaquin Lievano on "A Taste for Passion." At the end of the day, though, The Very Best of shows abundantly that Ponty could rock out with the best of them. Check out "Infinite Pursuit," a sonic twin to the Police's "Synchronicity," and you'll hear a musician who makes electronics swing in any idiom. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews:

4.5 stars- Good compilation.......2007-07-04

I don't have too much to say but that "Forms of Life" shouldn't be on here. It's the worst song on CIVILIZED EVIL because it only has the violin and keyboards playing and nothing else and it just repeats the same thing throughout the track. I think about everything else deserves to be on here so I have just removed 1/2 a star because the track "Forms of Life" is subpar to the rest of the material.

A Good Intro To Ponty.......2002-10-05

But I tend to think that the typical customer for this kind of retrospective is someone who listened to Ponty in the past and is looking to rebuild a collection. That being the case, I would suggest that instead of settling for this CD sampler, you buy the first five albums: "Upon The Wings Of Music," "Aurora," "Imaginary Voyage," "Enigmatic Ocean," and "Cosmic Messenger." Having followed Ponty over the years, I find that that is still the best stuff. If you're not sure about spending so much, go ahead and get this. It's a pretty good deal. But I bet you'll wind up doing what I do, which is mostly just to listen to the first half of the CD.

Good album.......2001-09-09

I loved this album because it had the best of Jean-Luc. however, it has three songs from Cosmic Messanger, and I don't think that's right. Plus, it had no songs from Open Mind, and no songs after Fables. That's not fair. There should have been more songs on it (less from Cosmic Messanger and more from Enigmatic Ocean which I feel is his best album), and there should be more from his albums after 1985.

It s just incredible!.......2000-06-21

Ponty has been always great of greatest since the very beginning and the biggest proof of all, is this cd not to mention all the rest, but the hits, this is the best of the best. In my personal opinion this cd show go straight to my Ponty coleccion, It's just something I cannot express with words, in my name and of all of Jean Luc Ponty's fan definetly deserves a 5 stars rate and maybe much more...

Absolutely The Best!.......2000-06-21

My prog-rock past allowed me to experience Jean Luc Ponty's awesome prowess on violin when I was a teenager in Montreal. It seemed natural to hear "New Country" on FM radio airwaves right alongside songs from Genesis, The Strawbs, E.L.P and Gentle Giant. Sure, Ponty was considered a "jazz" artist. Yep, he recorded "fusion" albums, which many jazz critics will tell you weren't jazz enough to be jazz or rock enough to be rock. And though he's a violinist, he isn't anything like the jazz violin heroes of the fifties (like, say, Stuff Smith). At the core of his albums lay inventiveness, expansive use of sound and technology, improvisation and - dare I say it - a certain degree of commercial professionalism that transcended the usual jazz-guys noodling-with-synthesizers [stuff] so common of the form. Here, Rhino's superb anthology does two things: 1) it sets up casual listeners with the VERY best of Ponty from his VERY best albums (recorded for Atlantic in the mid-1970s). 2) It sets up those who love this stuff to seek out LE VOYAGE, Rhino's 2-disc retrospective of the man's career. You'll love VERY BEST OF so much, you'll want more. More than just jazz, more than just a violin player with chops, this is intricate yet rewarding music. Played with brio and with passion. An essential collection.

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