Jazz Fusion For Life

Jean-Luc Ponty is a one of the world’s best jazz violinists.

He was a pioneer of jazz fusion. He played with Return to Forever IV at the Midland, Aug. 26. Jean-Luc recently wrote in to discuss how he became interested in playing jazz, the first piece he wrote on the violin and how he became a member of Return to Forever IV.

For more info on Jean-Luc Ponty, check out http://ponty.com/

Do you remember your earliest musical memory?

Yes, my very first public performance as a violinist was when I was 4 years old for a public performance organized by our kindergarten, I played a children’s song.

Were your parents musical?
Yes, my father was teaching violin and a few other instruments, my mother taught piano and voice.

What are some of your favorite childhood memories from growing up in France?

The region where I grew up is very beautiful, near Mont St Michel. I did a lot of bicycling in the countryside, the exceptional sights inspired me very much and I became a nature lover very early on, and music was also big part of my life and a source of great pleasure. But growing up in the post World War II period was tough. Adults were somber and deeply affected by what they went through. The U.S. aviation had dropped leaflets above our city to warn the population that they should leave as they were going to bomb our area to get rid of German occupation. But not all leaflets fell on the city and some people did not get the warning and got killed. Then for many years I grew up seeing ruins around me. Still everyone in my region loved and still love Americans for liberating us.

How old were you when you first started playing violin?

My father gave me a small violin when I was 3 and taught me to play a few children’s songs, but I really started learning the instrument seriously at 5.
What first got you interested in playing jazz?
I was studying classical violin at the Paris Conservatory, and I met guys in town who were looking for a clarinet player for their jazz band. They played swing music, kind of Benny Goodman’s style. I knew nothing about jazz but since clarinet was my third instrument after violin and piano, I went to audition for them. I was able to play by ear and improvise immediately and was hired. Later on I switched to violin because I had more technical abilities.

When did you compose your first piece on the violin?

I became a composer thanks to my knowledge of piano, thanks to which I also got into electric keyboards and synthesizers later on. Most pieces I wrote were written on keyboards, the first piece that I remember writing on the violin was “New Country.”

How do you approach playing jazz differently from playing classical music?

I do not play classical music anymore except sometimes at home for pleasure. So I changed a lot my violin technique to adapt to jazz and modern music general, as the aesthetics are very different. Two different worlds. In classical music the creativity is in understanding what a composer wanted to express in his musical work and to bring it alive, intellectually and emotionally, like what actors/actresses have to go through. Jazz is more about musical theory, instant composing through improvisation, with an emphasis on rhythm, the instrument is almost secondary. Also jazz gives a chance to create your own, to get out of tradition, to push your limits, at least for me that should be the goal as opposed to an academic approach. If jazz becomes too academic it loses its particularity compared to classical music.
You began playing jazz on the clarinet and alto sax. What were the biggest challenges when you first started playing jazz on the violin?

It took me some time. I was so used to studying classical works where every bow stroke is planned in advance, that it took me some time to be able to play on violin the musical ideas that came to my mind.

How did you balance your classical career with your interest in playing jazz?

My classical career stopped when I decided to dedicate my life to jazz. I could not keep both for 2 reasons, schedule first, then I changed my technique so much to play jazz that it would have been torture to go from one style to the other.

What inspired you to start playing the electric violin?

It started out of necessity. I wanted drummers to play with as much energy as they did with horn players and to do that I needed to have more volume on the violin. So I started with basic amplification, and that lead me to experiment with all the electronic sound devices originally invented for guitars, but some of which worked also great with violin, thanks to which I came up with sounds never heard before with a violin.

How has your approach to composition changed over the course of your career?

I started the traditional way, hearing music in my head and transcribing it on paper, and also I used the piano a lot. I would have never written all this music if I had only played violin. Then in the 80s digital technology started to allow recording music at home with the proper equipment, so in addition to writing compositions the old way, I also started improvising in my home studio on keyboards mostly, and building new pieces bits by bits this way, without noting it on paper.

How did you become a part of Return to Forever IV?

We have been friends since the 70s and they asked me to join them in 1976, but I had started my own band for a year already and was going to release my third band album ‘Imaginary Voyage’, so it was a tough decision but I chose to keep doing my own band. Luckily the offer came again 35 years later and I am very happy to be able to do it now.

What do you enjoy most about playing with Return to Forever IV?

There is great mutual respect and everyone puts his talent 100 percent to the service of the music. When we perform a composition by Chick Corea, he is the leader and we serve his composition the best we can, same thing when it’s a piece by Stanley Clarke or my piece. So with such a level of creativity from everyone, the musical result is unequaled.

Do you use setlists with Return to Forever?

Yes, but they vary a bit.

What are some of your favorite pieces to play with Return to Forever?

Each has it’s particular style, no favorite. Also it’s great to have a couple of acoustic pieces.
You easily mix so many different styles of music. Are there any styles of music you would like to work in that you haven’t yet?

Perhaps flamenco, although violin is not a traditional instrument in that style. Anyway I already have experimented plenty and have enough to draw from.

What have been some of the hardest obstacles you’ve had to overcome in your career?

First the prejudice that existed towards violin in modern jazz and modern music in general. I turned that handicap into an advantage once I proved that it is a very suitable instrument for these modern styles of music.

What do you feel are the keys to a long, successful career in music?

I wish there was a formula. I cannot think of any. I can say that integrity, sticking to your own original concept is one element among others, but it’s not enough to guarantee longevity.