Jean-Luc Ponty Biography

Jean-Luc Ponty (born September 29, 1942, Avranches, France) is a virtuoso French violinist and jazz composer.

Trained as a professional classical violinist at the Paris Conservatory, Ponty's attraction to jazz was propelled by Miles Davis's and John Coltrane's music. Ponty has worked with Stéphane Grappelli, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Frank Zappa, and appeared on more than 70 recordings.

In 1977 he pioneered the use of the 5-string electric violin, with a lower C string. He sometimes also uses a 6-string electric violin called the Violectra, with low C and F strings – not to be confused with the violectra he played from the late 1960s to the mid-80s which had 4 strings, but tuned an octave lower. Ponty was among the first to combine the violin with MIDI, distortion boxes, phase shifters, and wah-wah pedals. This resulted in his signature, almost synthesizer-like sound.

In 2005 Ponty formed the acoustic fusion supergroup TRIO! with legendary bassist Stanley Clarke and Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck.