It's time for a Jean-Luc Ponty one-fer!
Back in January we covered two of JLP's albums from the early eighties at once, to examine a turning point in this French violinist's approach to jazz-rock. This time around, there's a brand new release to examine and twenty-five years later, Ponty is still effectively leveraging much of the same ideas he came up with then, and at other points of his career.
For the artist himself, The Acatama Experience is the culmination of composing and recording on and off over a 13-month period while touring with his band around the globe. Ponty wanted to make an album that was themed on his travels, playing on the vibes he picked up along the way. The idea here was to come into the studio each time with a fresh mind and with tracks that are distinguishable from each other.
For the long time listener of Jean-Luc Ponty, Acatama 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. Here, Catherine adds a very jazzy solo, befitting the song's jazzy roots. It's a rare cover by Ponty but fits well into the overall album. Philip also helps out the buoyant, melodic "Still In Love", where he turns in a pretty, understated solo.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.
2 - Pico
As always, much appreciated, Connie :&)