Ponty Opts to Start Fiddling Around

Jean-Luc Ponty, one of the most popular jazz-fusion artists of the 1970s and ‘80s and certainly the most important jazz violinist since Stephane Grappelli, has been just this side of invisible in the last several years.

“I was in semiretirement,” he told the audience Friday at the Hyatt Newporter’s Summer Jazz Series, “at my apple groves in Normandy. . . .”

Though never completely absent, Ponty’s presence in the ‘90s never came close to his impact he made when he jumped into the American jazz scene more than 30 years ago.

He collaborated with keyboardist George Duke’s trio, associated with Frank Zappa (one of Ponty’s first American albums, “King Kong,” was a collection of Zappa compositions produced by the Mothers of Invention leader in 1969), joined English guitarist John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra for its 1974 “Apocalypse” project with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony Orchestra and recorded his innovative dates for World Pacific and other labels as the Jean-Luc Ponty Experience.

Ponty’s classical training, use of electronic amplification and ability to perform in a number of jazz styles combined to bring new life to an instrument seldom utilized by jazz ensembles.

His success in the jazz-fusion genre with albums including “Upon the Wings Of Music,” “Enigmatic Ocean,” “Cosmic Messenger” and others, documented on the new Rhino/Atlantic Jazz release “The Very Best of Jean-Luc Ponty,” seemed to have spoiled him, at least for a time. It was from this period that Ponty pulled most of the material he performed Friday. And these melodious, buoyant tunes, still frequently heard on smooth jazz radio, were quickly recognized and well received by the crowd.

But Ponty also showed he’s not one to rest on past success. A new and as yet unrecorded piece, appropriately titled “Life Goes On,” held African and Latin touches. It was paired with another piece co-written by his West African bassist Guy N’Sangue, which utilized makosa rhythms to create an irresistibly good-natured framework for his thoughtful violin play.

With percussionist Mustafa Cisse augmenting his congas and bongos with African drums, the two tunes displayed another side of the multifaceted Ponty, an Afro-beat direction first explored on his 1991 release “Tchokola.”

Another side of Ponty also surfaced, that of electronic experimenter heard on his mid-’80s recordings “Individual Choice,” “Open Mind” and others. Played solo, his “Eulogy for Oscar Romero” was an amalgam of haunting sonic effects, and impressionistic string passages heavy with echo that created moods similar to those in the most ethereal pieces of classical composers Gabriel Faure and Claude Debussy.

No matter which period he played from, Ponty remained passionate yet tasteful, never giving into histrionics or repetition.

The lessons of his classical training surfaced frequently, especially in his “Enigmatic Ocean Suite.” His stint as a clarinetist in a college jazz band in France surfaced in the way he constructed runs during faster numbers. The music pulled from his most popular fusion years was all of a sort.

The floating, sea-washed moods cast a dreamy sense of well-being, heightened by Ponty’s ability to find lyrical meaning in every line he played. Minus the hard backbeat associated with most fusion jazz, Ponty chose to float over the light rhythmic frameworks generated by Cisse, N’Sangue, pianist William LeComte and drummer Thierry Arpino, creating music fit to frame a fairy tale.

While these tunes seemed little different from one another, Ponty used their familiarity to win the audience before taking them into his synthesizer work and African-influenced pieces, music that transcended what had come before.

Perhaps the night’s biggest ovation came when Ponty announced he would be recording a new album soon, his first studio date in almost a decade. With new music, new direction and new ambition, it appears that the semi-retirement of Jean-Luc Ponty may be at an end.

* The Hyatt Newporter Summer Jazz Series continues Friday, June 23 with guitarist Larry Carlton. Information: (949) 721-4000.