Jean-Luc Ponty (; born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his collaborations with popular musical artists Frank Zappa and Elton John. In addition to his solo work, he has performed with symphony orchestras in France, the United States, Canada, and Japan.
Early life
Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France.
While still a member of the orchestra in Paris, Ponty picked up a side job playing clarinet (which his father had taught him) for a college jazz band that regularly performed at local parties. It proved life-changing. A growing interest in Miles Davis and John Coltrane compelled him to take up tenor saxophone. One night after an orchestra concert, and still wearing his tuxedo, Ponty found himself at a local club with only his violin. Within four years, he was widely accepted as the leading figure in "jazz fiddle".
At that time, Ponty was leading a dual musical life: rehearsing and performing with the orchestra while also playing jazz at clubs throughout Paris.
Success with the violin
At first, the violin proved to be challenging; few at the time viewed the instrument as having a legitimate place in the modern jazz vocabulary. With a powerful sound that eschewed vibrato, Ponty distinguished himself with bebop phrasing and a punchy style influenced more by horn players than by anything previously tried on the violin. In 1964, at age 22, he released his debut album, Jazz Long Playing. He performed on stage in Basel, Switzerland, with string players Stuff Smith, Stéphane Grappelli, and Svend Asmussen. The performance was released as the album Violin Summit (1966).
John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet invited Ponty to perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1967, the first collaboration between Ponty and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.
Frank Zappa and emigration to the United States
thumb|Jean-Luc Ponty at Berkeley Jazz Festival 1982
In 1969, Frank Zappa composed the music for Ponty's solo album King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (World Pacific, 1970). In 1972, Elton John invited Ponty to contribute to his Honky Chateau (1972) album. At the urging of Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, who wanted him to join their tour, Ponty emigrated with his wife and two young daughters to the United States and made his home in Los Angeles.