Tag: Violin

JEAN-LUC PONTY – VIOLIN VV032

~ vinylvibrationsbrianfrederick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:35 — 45.8MB)

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M1 “Idiot Bastard Son”, King Kong Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa, (Frank Zappa) World Pacific Jazz Records, 1970 (4:00).

M2 “Twenty Small Cigars”, King Kong Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa, (Frank Zappa) World Pacific Jazz Records, 1970 (5:35).

M3 “Bowing-Bowing”, Jean Luc Ponty-Stephane Grappelli (Jean-Luc Ponty), Inner City Records, 1976, recorded 1973, (6:28) 

M4 “Valerie”, Jean-Luc Ponty-Stephane Grappelli (Jean-Luc Ponty), Inner City Records, 1976 (7:00) 

M5 “Upon The Wings Of Music”, Upon The Wings of Music, (Jean-Luc Ponty), Atlantic Recording/Warner Communications, (5:24).

M6 “Now I Know”, Upon The Wings of Music, (Jean-Luc Ponty), Atlantic Recording/Warner Communications, (4:25) 

WELCOME TO THIS EPISODE OF VINYL VIBRATIONS – musical exploration into sounds and grooves from artists whose works are produced onto vinyl records. The Vinyl Record has stood the test of time- – Vinyl is durable and delivers stunning sound. With Vinyl Records, we capture a rich period in music history  including pop, rock, jazz, and classical genres. In each show I explore a topic in the artist’s music that makes their work unique and timeless. From these podcasts, the actual vinyl LPs played in this show go back to the 1950s – I am enjoying these discs some 70+ years after their production date. Tangible music, always available great quality. …  I’m your host, Brian Frederick.  WELCOME to this episode of Vinyl …  Vibrations.

ABOUT TODAY’S PROGRAM

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Today our featured artist is Jean-Luc Ponty – He is a French JAZZ-ROCK and JAZZ FUSION violinist and composer, born in 1942. Ponty graduated from Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with the PREMIER PRIX the first prize, a great accomplishment. Then he was hired by Orchestra Lamoureux. He also had a side job playing in a college jazz band and he evolved and developed a jazz interest. In his 20’s, Ponty went on to play at jazz clubs in Paris as the “JAZZ FIDDLE” role. Ponty was at the right time and the right place. In 1965, the VIOLIN did not have a place in the jazz world or in the jazz sound. Ponty has a unique sound, and he has made a huge impact in JAZZ-ROCK and in JAZZ FUSION. (pause)

One characteristic of Ponty’s style is his spared use of vibrato. His style favors powerful long notes, with just a trace of vibrato.. Another characteristic is that he plays the electric violin, and thirdly, he uses effects processing. He is truly a modern and pioneering violinist with his jazz and fusion roots starting in the 1960s.

In the1970’s he collaborated as sideman with FRANK ZAPPA- and with CHICK COREA- and with the MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA- resulting in 18 sideman records between those three groups. Before that PONTY had many recording accomplishments – with 8 recordings as LEADER going back to 1964 when he released his premier record [JAZZ LONG PLAYING]  In 1967 he played at the MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL, and this landed him a recording contract with the WORLD PACIFIC label.  In 1970, he was working with Frank Zappa on the KING KONG album, and working with Elton John on the HONKY CHATEAU album.

I was lucky and thrilled to see PONTY live in 1972 at  the BROWN SHOE, a bar in the Chicago Old Town neighborhood. He played an electric violin, and had floor pedals with basic effects, and played a mind-boggling 45-minute set of ROCK FUSION music. That was during his MAHAVISHNU-ZAPPA-COREA days. I had my proof, he was the real thing.

And now, let’s go into the music of Jean Luc Ponty.

In today’s podcast I review three records of Jean Luc Ponty AS LEADER, his early years, 1970 to 1975.

  1. King Kong Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa 1970
  2. Jean-Luc Ponty-Stephane Grappelli 1973
  3. Upon The Wings of Music 1975    

 

Stephane Grappelli, Violinist – VV025

~ vinylvibrationsbrianfrederick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:05 — 45.8MB)

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M1 Oh, Lady Be Good (George and Ira Gershwin, 1924), Django,  CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1934 (2:50)…

M2 Dinah, (Akst, Lewis, Young, 1925) Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1934 (2:30)…

M3 I Saw Stars (Sigler, Goodhart, Hoffman, 1934), Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1934 (2:20)…….

M4 Confessin’, (Daugherty, Reynolds, 1929), Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series 1969/1935 (2:40)….

M5 The Sunshine of Your Smile, (Ray, Cooke, 1913) Django,  CBS Realm Jazz Series, 1969/1935 (2:50)…..

M6 Swannee River (Old Folks at Home), (Foster, 1851), Django, CBS Realm Jazz Series, 1969/1935 (2:50)…

M7 Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)(Davis, Ramirez, Sherman, 1941)  Best of Django Reinhardt, EMI / Columbia, 1970/1947 (3:10)

M8 Golden Green (Ponty, 1972), Ponty/Grappelli, Inner City Records, 1976/1973 (4:42)

Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the artistry of French Violinist Stephane Grappelli.

Stephane Grappelli is best known as the founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France along with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. This was a GYPSY jazz band. Grappelli is considered the grandfather of jazz violinists. He lived 90 years, from 1908 until 1997.

He began playing violin at the age of 12, early on, preferring to learn in the streets by watching how other violinists played, such as at the Barbes (pron BAR-bez) metro station in Paris. Then he was enrolled by his father at the Conservatory of Paris to learn music theory, sight reading, and ear training. He graduated three years later.

Starting at age 15, he worked in the pit orchestra at the Theatre Gaumont, accompanying silent films, then at the Ambassador Hotel orchestra, where jazz violinist Joe Venuti was playing. For a while, Grappelli abandoned violin — in favor of playing piano in a big band, it was easier to get paid for big band work. Jazz violinists were a relatively unknown and rare breed. In this big band, Grappelli met gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. It was 1931 and Grappelli was just 23, Django was 21. Three years later, Django and Grappelli formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France . This was an all-string jazz band, and they performed regularly at the Montmartre district, an artistic village on the hill in the northside of Paris. This continued until 1939 when the Quintette disbanded due to the outbreak of World War II. ‘’

When the war was over, the original Quintette never did reform. Django and Grappelli did continue to perform together in Paris. In 1949, they briefly toured in Italy, where some 50 tunes were recorded. That would turn out to be the last time the two would record together, 1949, due to Django’s untimely death at the age of 43. Many of those recorded songs were released as an album titled Djangology in 2005 on Bluebird Records.

Most of the recordings featured in today’s podcast were recorded between 1934 and 1947 and were recorded in Paris, as performed by the Quintette du Hot Club de France.

Stephane Grappelli is a master of improvisation. He had said that he was not a fan of BEBOP jazz, which was then very fashionable in the jazz world.   Instead, he was a strong proponent of SWING music, another popular jazz style. Swing developed in the US in 1935-1945  ….. This was the SWING ERA in America.