Aural Moon - Progressive Rock Discussion - COTM #99

Hello Friends.

When featuring different artists during my shows, every once and awhile you come across an artist that you realize they have so many more ties to other artists than you thought. So much so that you also realize how instrumental they were in shaping the growth and changes of a genre and world acceptance.

Tonight's artist is a great example of this: Jean-Luc Ponty.

One of the more interesting tidbits about Jean-Luc Ponty that I keep forgetting is his involvement with early Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. But then, Frank always had that ability to surround himself with brilliant musicians. One of Jean-Luc's first albums was King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa. This was release in 1969 and features many of the MOI band, including Ian Underwood and George Duke (with whom he had already released one album).

The 2nd feature album will be On The Wings of Music, a 1975 release. By this time Fusion had taken a firm grasp of the music world and this is Ponty's first fully fusion filled album, and a very good one at that.

The 3rd album for our show is perhaps Jean-Luc Ponty's finest album. It is the one that seems to garner them best reviews, as well as reaching #1 on the Jazz album charts in 1977. This album is Enigmatic Ocean.

I do hope you will enjoy remembering the great music and talent of Jean-Luc and how he helped shape the face and sound of Jazz Fusion and Progressive Rock.

dale