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Take a bow

Jean Luc Ponty on the violin, Frank Zappa, fusion and all that jazz

PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.

CHANGING LANES Jean Luc Ponty: `My predecessors adapted jazz to violin while I took the violin to jazz'

"It was the easiest way to meet a lot of girls in Paris," says Jean-Luc Ponty recounting the motive behind his accidental foray into jazz when he was a teenager. "So I auditioned for a club jazz band. Although I didn't know a thing about improvisation, I got in because of my ear for music."

Born in a family of classical musicians at Avranches (France), Ponty was trained in classical violin from the age of five by his father while his mother tutored him on the piano. Having left school at 13, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire with the intention of becoming a concert violinist. But Ponty's interest in another instrument that he played, the clarinet, and his "addiction to the swing of Benny Goodman" aided his transition from classical to jazz. "I went against the will of my parents who wanted me to continue in classical."

But Ponty soon had to shift back to the violin. "I was not as technically adept and confident on the clarinet. It was also a time when many sceptics believed that the violin should stay within classical and folk; it was far away from jazz." But Ponty was not deterred and the fiddler soon began his hallowed journey. "I was propelled by the stateside sounds of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bill Evans among others."

Following such pioneering virtuosi combinations of violin and guitar players like Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang in the 20s, and Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt in the 30s, were Ponty and jazz-fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. "I constantly use a lot of classical elements in my compositions," says Ponty. "My predecessors adapted the jazz form to the violin while I did the opposite — I took the violin into jazz."

In the Seventies, Ponty worked with wizards like Frank Zappa and John Mclaughlin, besides Di Meola. With Zappa, "It was like a father-son relationship. I always did what he told me to."

Zappa, with whom he first played at the '67 Monterey Jazz Festival, inspired Ponty to stay on in the US. He even composed music for Ponty's solo album King Kong ('69). With Al, "It was more of a brotherly relationship, an equal collaboration. We learnt from each other." Together they worked on the album The Rite of Strings ('95).

After a close association with fusion bands, including The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ponty claims, "I simply could not have returned to the be-bop mode. It was a synthesis of musical elements and experiences; it was a logical evolution."

Ponty has worked with many Indian musicians over the years including Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain and fellow-violinist L. Subramaniam.

"Their treatment of the raga with such patience, complexity and character is amazing. It's like seeing scientists and mathematicians at work.

Once there is a strong affinity between two working musicians from anywhere across the globe it blazes up into something incredible, and sometimes spiritual."

The family musical tradition continues with daughter Clara Ponty who is a composer, pianist and vocalist and has a huge fan following in India. "Although more inclined towards classical, she embraces all kinds of musical forms. A non-conformist, just like me," he says.

Ponty, who runs his own JLP Productions, says there are a few more releases to look out for especially, "a new studio album with the be-bop styles of guitarists Alan Holdsworth and Philip Catherine." But after that Ponty says, "I will close it and just concentrate on music."

BHARADWAJ M. V.

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