Jean-Luc Ponty - Cosmic Messenger (1979)

Artista: Jean-Luc Ponty

Álbum: Cosmic Messenger
Año: 1979
Género: Jazz Rock / Fusión progresiva
Duración: 37:47
Nacionalidad: Francia

Lista de Temas:
1. Cosmic Messenger
2. Art of Happiness
3. Don't Let the World Pass You By
4. I Only Feel Good With You
5. Puppets' Dance
6. Fake Paradise
7. Ethereal Mood
8. Egocentric Molecules

Alineación:
- Joaquin Lievano / Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
- Casey Schelierell / Drums, Percussion
- Ralphe Armstrong / Guitar (Bass)
- Allan Zavod / Organ, Synthesizer, Piano, Piano (Electric)
- Mark Craney / Drums
- Peter Maunu / Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Synthesizer)
- Jean-Luc Ponty / Organ, Electric Violin, Main Performer, Violin (Electric), Violin, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals, Synthesizer

Alguien lo pidió en el chat y Alberto, a quine no se le escapa una, lo comparte con todos ustedes. Otro disco de fusión del violinista Jean-Luc Ponty.

En este disco, Jean-Luc, cambia la estructura de las canciones y las hace independientes unas de otras, pero, tranquilos, pórque el resultado es magnifico, esplendoroso, y se cuenta con unos músicos que se demuestran capaces de convertir el estilo de Jazz en algo asequible a los que gustan de Rock, Progresivo y Sinfonico. Ahi están unos solos de guitarra en la pista 8, "Egocentric molecules", solos de gran virtuosismo en su ejecución, pero es que el bajo no se queda atrás en esa perfección. Esta es la canción que mejor se les dá en directo, donde el publico mas disfruta. En fin, a estas alturas ya doy por hecho que algunos habreis descubierto a Jean-Luc Ponty, por cierto, os recuerdo que este tipo ha tocado en los grupos de Frank Zappa, con John Mclaughlin en Mahavishnu Orchestra, etc,etc, asi que imaginad su nivel. Creo que no tengo mas discos de Ponty para compartir, asi que buscad en la red, y gozad con a escucha de la música de alguien que seguro será un icono en el futuro. Para mi y mis colegas de juventud siempre será un Maestro. Hace poco tuve la suerte de que mi amigo de la juventud y para siempre, Enrique, un auténtico fenómeno con la guitarra, me pasó unas grabaciones de las que haciamos con un cassette que utiizábamos para grabar en sonido ambiente, en esa grabación, y entre varias canciones, hay la versión que el hacia de la cancion nº 2 The art of happiness, y además de lo que significa volver a oir algo de lo haciamos en aquellos años, me ha hecho redescubrir a Jean-Luc Ponty, y esto para mi es importante.

Miguel Campoviejo

Tras la impresionante álbum "Enigmático Ocean", que publicaramos ayer gracias a la buena onda de Alberto, álbum que marcó la asociación del francés del violín con el renombrado guitarrista Allan Holdsworth, Ponty en lugar de replicar el éxito del disco decide seguir a una forma más cruda y funky en éste, su siguiente disco, el último de Jean-Luc Ponty en solitario a tener este sonido un tanto más pesado ya que en sus futuros álbumes apuestaría por composiciones más melódicas, apacibles y con un énfasis en los sintetizadores. Recordemos que la formación musical de Jean-Luc es clásica y como a muchos músicos de estas características, al momento de iniciar su carrera su inclinación preferencial se fue a los sonidos jazz. mientras que luego van virando hacia formas y formatos más comerciales amplios. A partir de "Cosmic Messenger" su estilo es más ligero, apareciendo sólo apenas, y muy por encimita, el sonido prog.
Vamos con otros comentarios en inglés (no encontré mucho en castellano) y al disco.

The classically-trained avant-garde jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty was one of many extraordinary musicians (along with Shuggie Otis, Captain Beefheart, and Little Feat slide guitarist Lowell George, among others) to replace key Mothers of Invention personnel on Frank Zappa's landmark fusion release Hot Rats in 1969. It was that same year that Ponty put out an album of Zappa compositions, King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa. Surveying a seemingly-random selection of the composer's works from Absolutely Free to Chunga's Revenge, the album's most appealing moments were jazzified takes on difficult compositions like "The Idiot Bastard Son" and "Twenty Small Cigars." As in Hot Rats (particularly the legendary title track) Ponty played speedy, electrified violin runs that meshed especially well with Zappa's bleeding wah-wah guitar style. Ponty and Zappa were both voracious consumers of classical music, jazz, pop, rock and classic R&B, and among their peers they had surprisingly little trouble pulling together these influences into epic jazz-rock concertos.
Ten years later, Zappa was putting out atonal blues like Zoot Allures, Jean-Luc Ponty was recovering from a short stint in the Mahavishnu Orchestra (Mark Two), and the landscape of fusion looked a lot different than it had a decade earlier. What had been a novelty in Zappa's heyday had become sublimated through the airwaves and distilled several times since into listener-friendly lite jazz. However, there was also funk and disco to contend with, if one wished to do so, and on Cosmic Messenger Jean-Luc Ponty chose a path between radio-readiness and restless, jittery violin funk--yes, you read that right, "violin funk."
Among other accomplishments, Cosmic Messenger lives up to the requirements of its title. The title track, a rare fusion ballad, is pure transportive, shimmery momentum, with double-tracked guitar leads swooping over dramatic arpeggios. Ponty's violin emerges from this noise and squeaks through blues patterns that would give the average guitarist hand cramps. Among rock violinists of this era, only Roxy Music's Eddie Jobson could match the intensity of his leads. On "Don't Let the World Pass You By," Ponty builds two minutes' worth of tension with a slow, guttural guitar riff, until the song takes off at double, maybe even triple speed. Against this funky layering of electronic keyboard arpeggios, Ponty moves up and down his violin like a musician possessed by the need to play every every note combination at once. On cowbell rave-ups like "Puppet's Dance," Ponty makes his violin shriek like its an extension of his own voice, disembodied.
If you can overlook its production sheen, Cosmic Messenger is as seductive as it is tense and dramatic. It rarely flags and never runs out of new directions to explore. If Zappa still made music in 1979 like he had ten years earlier, it might have sounded something like this.

Nathan

Cosmic Messenger is more elegant, European-flavored jazz-rock from the French virtuoso Jean-Luc Ponty, and pretty much in the same mold as his previous Atlantic albums but with gradually tightening control over every parameter of performance. Ponty's analog-delay special effects on the title track are spectacular, and the album is loaded more than ever with revolving electronic arpeggios as Ponty's own involvement with the ARP synthesizer grows. But there is still plenty of his fluid, slippery electric violin soloing to be heard within the tight structures of these pieces, and the tunes themselves are often pretty good. In addition, this fusion express finds its way into the funk on "The Art of Happiness," and there are some tricky rhythmic experiments on some tunes.

Richard S. Ginell

Cosmic Messenger is Jean-Luc Ponty's Jazz Fusion Masterpiece and as such one of the greatest Jazz Fusion albums ever released. The instrumental musicianship on this album is simply stunning and it hits with towering force. Jean-Luc Ponty's Violin and Synthesizer arrangements are just insane, Ralphe Armstrong's Basslines are fluid, complex, and astounding. And Casey Scheuerell's Drumming is nearly beyond words. Cosmic Messenger is a rich and fulfilling Masterpiece in every sense of the word

DarthKarl

A moderate fusion affair, but adequate captivation for a sound which can so easily fade to muzak meaninglessness. A few dope breaks 'n' grooves on side B as well make this a worthwhile piece of black plastic.

SellMeAGod

There were four albums of Jean Luc Ponty that became my favorite and I regularly played at my tape deck from my cassette collection: "Cosmic Messenger", "Imaginary Voyage", "Mystical Adventure" and "Enigmatic Ocean". At that time it was kind of change to play these albums after heavily enjoyed other albums from Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Led Zeppelin because Ponty's music is a jazz-rock fusion kind of style.
The album kicks off with an ambient keyboard / violin augmented with guitar fills in "Cosmic Messenger" (4:38) which then followed by the entrance of drums and soaring organ sound that fit beautifully with rhythm section. The tempo is medium and the music creates a magic nuance which fits well if you play it very early in the morning with turning the volume at high level. Really good experience and great joy.
"The Art of Happiness" (4:33) has a more energetic beat compared to the opening track. I like the combined work of guitar rhythm section and drums at the beginning of the track, augmented with dynamic bass lines. The electric guitar work during interlude is really stunning even though it's mixed very thinly. I think this is done intentionally and it creates brilliant result because it makes the beat much more obvious as result of the rhythm section is displayed more than the guitar solo. For me personally, this is brilliant idea! Not even the guitar solo, the main composer's violin solo that comes after the guitar solo is also mixed thinly. I guess Mr. Ponty did control his ego really well. Salute!
"Don't Let the World Pass You By" (6:23) begins with wonderful guitar work and long sustain keyboard work with drums as beat keeper. This straightforward structure lasts for about two minutes at the beginning part until the bass guitar and drums take more roles to bring the music flows energetically. What follows is a wonderful solo improvisation between keyboard and violin with dynamic bass lines and drum beats. This part is probably the most exciting part of any Jean Luc Ponty's music that I also find with other album like "Enigmatic Ocean".
"I Only Feel Good With You" (3:05) is a beautiful mellow music exploring keyboard and violin. This is a very song-oriented composition with good melody. "Puppets' Dance" (3:40) brings the music back into an upbeat style with violin solo augmented with inventive bassline. The other three remaining tracks are also beautifully crafted.
In summary, this album is highly recommended, an excellent addition to any prog music collection. If you like bands like Passport, Deodato, Return To Forever, you may enjoy this album. The composition is not that complex as Return To Forever but all of them are wonderfully composed. Keep on proggin' .!

Gatot Widayanto

This is the best album I heard of Ponty by far, my favourite one!!

Atreju77

This is the only Jean-Luc Ponty album I've heard, and one of the very few fusion albums I've heard. I find it to be really, really neat. The sound of the crazed violin soloing meshing with the electric jazz ensemble is seriously one of the coolest, spaciest sounds I've heard out of any group. The title track, Don't Let the World Pass You By, and Ethereal Mood are the standouts to my ears. Most of the songs get a bit repetitive in their jazz grooving, but even then the drums and bass (I have to give special mention to the bassist, he is especially talented) can keep the pieces interesting. I look forward to looking into more of his work.

Bassooning_Chipmunk

By the late 70's, Ponty's « group » was not even close to its debut line-up, since outside Jean-Luc himself, no one else was still present. But this hardly means that the newer members are not as good (or better) than their predecessor, far from it. But one thing is sure: Ponty's formula is definitely going a little stale by now, with each and every album being systematically a little too close for comfort; Cosmic Messenger is almost incestuously close to Imaginary Voyage and Taste For Passion and you will not be able to tell for sure which album you're on. The problem lies at the very base of the music: this instrumental fusion was also by 78 relatively common, hardly groundbreaking and to be truthful a bit boring.
While the opening title track still sounds exciting, the rest of the first side is rather yawning, unexciting and heard-before while still remaining pleasant and technical. The second side is rather more interesting, but still not worth writing home (or even a dithyrambic review for that matter) about: both Fake Paradise (about angel dust, maybe?) and the excellent Egocentric Molecules are worth a note. While Ethereal Mood is a dreamy atmospheric tune, but failing to evolve much, arouse your interest and ultimately overstaying its welcome.
Yet another late 70's JR/F album. Not the most inspired nor is it the worst either. Just a bit pointless. Désolé Jean-Luc, quand tu en as un, tu les as tous!!!

Sean Trane

I am fortunate to have seen J-LP a few times in concert in my lifetime--and this tour was the first of them. The concert's opening is forever etched in my mind as one of the most amazing concert memories of my life. Opening with the album's title song, Jean-Luc proceeds to strike such unearthly sounds--more like screams--from his electric violin that people on the floor were literally covering their ears, turning this way and that with panicked expressions on their faces, trying to figure out where this never-before-experienced sound was coming from. It was incredible. "Cosmic Messenger" (11/10) will always be my favorite Jean-Luc song because of this amazing concert reproduction. Other 5 star songs: "Don't Let the World Pass You By" (8/10), "I Only Feel Good With You" (9/10), "Ethereal Mood" (10/10), and "Egocentirc Molecules" (10/10)
P.S. Has anyone ever considered all of the guys Jean-Luc has stood toe-to-toe with? Stephane Grappelli, Frank Zappa, George Duke, John McLaughlin, Narada Michael Walden, Jan Hammer, Alan Holdsworth, Daryl Stuermer, Peter Maunu, Joaquin Lievano, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, Ralphe Armstrong, Randy Jackson, Rayford Griffin, Monty Alexander, Patrice Rushen and many more. He must be quite respected on his instrument in order to attract this kind of company.

W. A. Fisher

Will I be the FIRST to give this unbelievably GREAT record its FIRST FIVE STAR rating at ProgArchives?!
Sure, it's predecessor, Enigmatic Ocean, was a landmark recording if there ever was one in the jazz-fusion realm, but it seems that we allow ourselves to judge albums based on previous or future efforts instead of listening to a given record in isolation, without bias.
Cosmic Messenger was my introduction to JLP and only a year or two later did I listen to Enigmatic Ocean. I'm glad that was the progression I took because it's made me appreciate Cosmic Messenger all the more. Honestly, I can't find much difference between the two records, as far as complexity and musicianship are concerned. Other than the trickier solo trading between Holdsworth and Ponty on Ocean nothing stands out from Ocean enough to eclipse Cosmic Messenger.
One thing we can be sure of: Cosmic Messenger is THE LAST HEAVY JLP album. After this he started getting into synth sequencing and more softer, melodic and funkier stuff. Here we have much more distorted and effect driven violin solos than on any future JLP release. The guitars play heavier comping lines and the overall feel of the album is more prog-jazz-rock(think of UK) than the techno-jazz-fusion found in later releases. The guitar solos are more prominent and rock oriented than on most anything that we find later on.
Specially interesting to proggers should be the pieces Don't Let The World Pass You By and Egocentric Molecules. The former has JLP performing violin shredding gymnastics via effects and distortion that may have you wondering if it's a guitar, a keyboard or....or....who knows what! The latter is a flat-out prog masterpiece. Heavy, intense, melodic and frightening to hear such COSMIC musicianship!
FIVE STAR MASTERPIECE, without much thought and equal to Enigmatic Ocean in every respect.

wbiphoto

A very good fusion album. I bought this for the low price of a dollar and chose it because I recognized the name, I found it to be a very good listen with really tight and balanced ensemble playing. The bass is quite fast and yet doesn't overwork, the violin playing really shines of course and it is a good blend of cosmic tones and a steady fusion framework. I would recommend this to fans and newcomers, a very good album.

endlessepic

This album is a great album. Don't get me wrong. Many people say it is his best. I tend to disagree, however only so slightly. I don't beleive this is as good as his previous album, Enigmatic Ocean. But there are PLENTY of gems here.
The title track and opener is very good, but when I had first listened to it, It was so unlike previous Ponty that I had heard I rarely listened to it again. It's just not my style, at least in this musical genre of fusion.
The next song the Art of Happiness, is awesome, and hearkens back to Ponty's chorus solo chorus solo chorus that he set the tone for in his previous 4 albums with Atlantic, as well as before that. Great song, great playing by all.
The next two tracks bore me so I rarely listen to them. However, Puppet's Dance is wonderful, upbeat, and complex. I love the complex time signatures it employs. The track following that, Fake Paradise, I believe is the most underrated song in Ponty's entire career. It's BEAUTIFUL. The use of constant 7th chords, round out the entire song, the sequences, the modulations... it's amazing. It's ethereal jazz. Which brings up ethereal mood, another amazing track, and one of JLP's most popular. the electric piano's dark yet lifting opening riff sets the tone for the entire song. It's awesome. Then last but certainly not least, Egocentric Molecules is the pinnacle of JLP's music, and is one of the best he's ever done.
Barring the two songs I really don't like, this album is full of amazingness.

spencerlent

Otro disco para que disfruten del franchute del violincito. Imaginación a raudales y magistrales amalgamas de rock y sonidos sinfónicos, con toda su elegancia enraizada en su fusión sonora, Y lo tenemos otra vez gracias a Alberto, a quien agradecemos.