Jean-Luc PONTY
& His BAND

The Acatama Experience

(2007)

This album was produced 'on and off' between January 2006 and February 2007, due to the fact that I also performed with my band on different continents during that same time period. The advantage was to return to this album project always with fresh ears. Some of these travel experiences also influenced the development of musical ideas, such as sketches of improvisations with electronic effects that came to maturity as a collage in the title track TheAcatama Experience. These sounds evoke perfectly what I felt in the vast canyons of the Acatama Desert in Northern Chile, which I visited after a show in Santiago. Then Desert Crossing is the very first unacompanied acoustic violin piece that I ever recorded.
Between these two extremes represented by an electronic and an acoustic solo, we have the ma concept of this new album, performances by a band with great musical interaction acquired I playing on so many stages around the world for several years now.
I want to express my gratitude to William, Guy, Thierry and Taffa for being so dedicated to this band, and also to our guests Philip Catherine and Allan Holdsworth for their very special contributions.
JL Ponty

1. Intro 0'15
Paris street ambiance
2. Parisian Thoroughfare 4'39
(Bud Powell, Arranged by William Lecomte)
JLP BAND
with Philip Catherine on guitar
3. Premonition 3'44
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND
4. Point Of No Return 6'45
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND
with Allan Holdthworth on guitar
5. Back In The 60's 4'04
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND
with Philip Catherine on rhythm guitar
6. Without Regrets 4'29
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND
7. Celtic Steps 5'53
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND
8. Desert Crossing 3'04
(JL Ponty)
JLP: 5-string acoustic violin
9. Last Memories Of Her 5'21
(JL Ponty)
JLP: 5-string electric violin, background keyboards
William Lecomte: piano
10. The Acatama Experience 2'01
(JL Ponty)
JLP: 5-string electric violin, synthesizers, effects
11. On My Way To Bombay 4'33
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND
12. Still In Love 5'07
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND
with Philip Catherine on guitar
13. Euphoria 4'49
(William Lecomte)
JLP BAND
14. To And Fro 4'21
(JL Ponty)
JLP BAND

Total Time: 59:05

  • Jean-Luc Ponty - Violin, Keyboards
  • William Lecomte - Piano, Keyboards
  • Guy Nsangue Akwa - Electric Bass
  • Thierry Arpino - Drums
  • Taffa Cisse - Percussion

    with Guests:

  • Allan Holdsworth - Guitar on Track 4
  • Philip Catherine - Guitar on Track 2

    Produced by Jean-Luc Ponty for J.L.P PRODUCTIONS, Inc.
    Recording Engineers: Karim Sai and JL Ponty
    Mixing Engineer: Karim Sai
    Mastering Engineer: Greg Calbi at     STERLING SOUND. New York City
    Art Direction & Design by     STYLOROUGE, London
    Cover Photo by Claudia Ponty
    Inside Photos: JL Ponty by Kimberly Wright, JLP BAND by Frederic Houis, P. Catherine by Jacky Lepage
    A&R for     KOCH RECORDS: David Wilkes

    Recorded at ENIGMATIC STUDIO
    Additional Recording at     STUDIO MEUDON and STUDIO PIGALLE, France

    All Music Composed by Jean-Luc Ponty


    Published by     YTNOP MUSIC
    (BMI in the USA & Canada only - SACEM in all other territories)

    EXCEPT: "Euphoria" Composed by William Lecomte (SACEM)
    Published by     YTNOP MUSIC

    AND: "Parisian Thoroughfare" Composed by Bud Powell (BMI)
    Published by     EMI LONGITUDE MUSIC CO. (BMI)