Customer Reviews

The Acatama Experience

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me say from the outset that I enjoy this album, and it will I'm sure be played much in the future in my household.
He is a wonderful 'jazz' violinist, and as we all know there are very few of them about, and I can't help wondering if record companies are perhaps struggling to find a way to market them to their (and Ponty's) best advantage.
The veteran musician has an enviable technique on the violin, and a wonderfully full and warm tone; and when given reign to do so can swing like the clappers. He has a great harmonic sense, and loves to play.
For the long time listener of Jean-Luc Ponty, "Acatama" or...better "ATACAMA" is the product of a band that has been playing together for at least six years and a culmination of Ponty's entire fusion career.
2001's Life Enigma marked a welcome return to the studio after an eight year drought, but his crack band was utilized sparingly.
Ponty chose to play or program most of the instruments and bring in band members to help in varying degrees as he saw fit; Individual Choice seemed to be the template that he was working from.
In contrast, JLP includes his band much more for The Acatama Experience, and that's a good thing, because some of his best records have resulted from using a road-tested rhythm section. It's the the same touring band he employed sporadically for Life Enigma: William Lecomte on keyboards, Guy Nsangué Akwa on electric bass, Thierry Arpino on drums and Taffa Cissé on percussion.
Another old trick that Jean Luc pulls out of his bag is bringing in guest guitarists for spot duty, and true to his ol' form, only the finest will do. In the past, Ponty has hired luminaries like George Benson and Genesis tour member Daryl Stuermer. This time, he brings in guys who played with him back in the heyday seventies: Belgian/English fusion heavy Philip Catherine and that electric guitar virtuoso's virtuoso known as Allan Holdsworth. The overall approach of tour band + star sessionists and just the overall sound of this record makes it more akin to 1989's consistently good Storytelling.
As if to be starting a globe trotting journey in his home country, the first song of the collection is a modernized version of Bud Powell's sunny bop classic, "Parisian Thoroughfare" complete with a mildly hip-hop beat.The funkiest song is saved for end; "To And Fro", with a nice, syncopated groove provided by Akwa (Ponty's best ever bassist) and Arpino.
There is plenty of full-bodied and melodic violin, coupled with gently swinging and sympathetic backing.
The session has that degree of spark and something special that ignites and inflames the mind and turns this pleasing and pleasant album into something memorable.
It's a very enjoyable listening experience.

If you are an old fan of JLP, you are simply going to love his new release.
Who can play the violin with all the sounds of the Guitar, keyboard and violin and release sounds from Rock to fusion to classic jazz all combined in one album better or close to JLP?
Simply no one.
This album is simply a tight, fresh and mature fantastic Jazz release. Jean Luc Ponty

Another previous well recommended release for JLP: Individual Choice

I have followed Jean-Luc for over 20 years, and never stops amazing me!
His latest give more feeling and beat than the last few albums. He delivers much better live, but this is one of his best studio albums! He has a top notch band right now on this album, and he has toured with them extensively.
A must have for any JLP or jazz fan!

Through the years, violinist Jean Luc Ponty (a well recognized musician that doesn't need presentation anymore), has demostrated through his mamoth of finesse recordings, not only his musical inventiveness with recordings that have became cornerstones in the jazz fusion genre, but furthermore, by the high level invited musicians that have contributed to embellish his albums with their habilities and particular emotion every time. Between others, we can find guitarists like Daryl Struemer, George Benson or Scott Henderson, but we must to mention the most revolutionary of all: The maestro Allan Holdsworth, who has colaborated with Jean Luc-Ponty since 1976 in the recording ENIGMATIC OCEAN (One of the cornerstones that I have talked), INDIVIDUAL CHOICE (1982), and now this new Ponty's production named ACATAMA EXPERIENCE (2007). the middle aged man Allan Holdsworth only plays in one song but his powerfull exotic and melodic solos help to create the ambiance for these new and beautifull Ponty's sketches that by the way, after years of recordings abscence, these listen with a more matured sound. This recording is in a traditional Jazz format (more than Fusion) containing all the essential Ponty's elements: The inviting rhythms and the hypnotic melodies, but this time with a kind of an african-brazilian flavor supported by an acoustic piano instead of the sinthesized wall of keyboard sounds that the Ponty's fan know very well. The track "Point Of No Return", offers a different musical view with disonant violin and fluglehorn melodies on top of a rhythm section and a grand piano progression, leaving beside the hard traditional kind of Jazz format just to find the influence figure of the great Miles Davis... Fantastic!

Another new is the 3 track playing of guitarist Philip Catherine, a veteran musician that played with Thjis Van Leer in seventies with the Progressive band FOCUS! So just sit back, relaxe, and enjoy again a great instrumental album with Jean Luc-Ponty and his friends... Good Luck

This is a great record, and maybe one of Ponty's best in the last years. Despite the misspelling of the chilean Atacama Desert, it should belong in any Jazz Rock aficionado library. Of course, it's not A Taste for Passion but even so it is an album well worth owning.

The trademark polished, sweet, sophisticated and expressive tone of Ponty's violin is as unmistakable as it is an auditive pleasure.

I've heard this recording back-to-back several times today and it arrived yesterday in the mail. Jean-Luc Ponty's ATaCama Experience is simply exquisite...

The atmospheric piece entitled "Atacama Experience" is reminiscent of his brilliant "Individual Choice" album. "Celtic Steps" reminds of us his popular "New Country" or "Rhythm of Hope".

Personal favorites of the 2007 album: "Still in Love", Ponty's solo "Desert Crossing" (a virtuoso piece without any electronic effects) and "Point of No Return" (with a brilliant solo by guitarist Allan Holdsworth... can guitarist Eric Johnson guest the next JLP album, please?!).

This is a very pleasant album! It's a bit of a departure for Jean-Luc, in that it is much more of a straightforward free-form jazz album than any of his previous works. And, he did it in fine style! His performances on this album are excellent, as usual. And his personality (which has made most of his work shine in the past) is very clear and present in this work. It was nice to hear his old friend, British guitarist Allan Holdsworth perform with him again for the first time in over 20 years. Even though Holdsworth only played on one song in this work, his original sound, touch and talent rang true in his performance. One pleasant surprise on this album was the inclusion of jazz guitar legend Phillip Catherine on 2 or 3 songs. I don't think Catherine has ever played for Jean-Luc before. But, his cool, smooth electric guitar work added a saucy jazz flavor to the album. It was great to hear! Some of the songs could have been longer. The solos could have been a bit more extended. But overall, this album is a refreshing and tasty release that is a necessary addition to anyone's collection if you are a Jean-Luc Ponty fan! It is not a classic on the status of "Cosmic Messenger" or even the inventive "Individual Choice"....but believe me! This is an album you will enjoy very much!

This latest JLP cd surprised me. I think i was expecting another "power house" recording; instead, in my opinion, the Acatama Experience (and i don't care if the title is misspelled) shows JLP's softer side. To be honest, at first i wasn't sure if i liked it because i had listened to mr. ponty rocking the house for so long. but the more i played it, i began to appreciate and love it as much as his previous albums, and i can't stop listening to it now. this latest recording is a must-have for your JLP collection!

I didn't like it as well as some of his older work (i.e. "Mystical Adventures"), but it's nice to still hear him make music.

With six years between studio releases (2001, Life Enigma), Jean-Luc Ponty covers the many phases in his amazing solo career, but within an acoustic setting.

From the neat melody of Celtic Steps, to the sizzling Premonition and the duet between pianist William Lecomte and Ponty on Last Memories of Her, the power of the artistry will be impressive to longtime fans and those who are hearing the violinist for the first time.

The heat-seeking numbers from the 1970s catapulted Ponty into an elite company in the fusion movement. Some 30-plus years later, the pyrotechnics is in compositional depth and Ponty acknowledging his past achievements, while marching confidently forward into the future.