djbuddylovecooljazz's video: Cosmic Messenger - Jean-Luc Ponty 1978

"Cosmic Messenger" was the title track of an album by French jazz-fusion artist Jean-Luc Ponty, released in 1978. The album was a great success for Ponty, peaking at number two on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and crossing over to reach on the Pop Album chart, as well. Jean-Luc Ponty (born September 29, 1942) is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer. Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano. At sixteen, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, graduating two years later with the institution's highest award, Premier Prix. In turn, he was immediately hired by one of the major symphony orchestras, Concerts Lamoureux, where he played violin for three years. While still a member of the orchestra in Paris, Ponty picked up a side gig playing clarinet (which his father had taught him) for a college jazz band that regularly performed at local parties. It proved to be a life-changing jumping-off point. A growing interest in the jazz sounds of Miles Davis and John Coltrane compelled him to take up the tenor saxophone. One night after an orchestra concert, still wearing his formal tuxedo, Ponty found himself at a local jazz club with only his violin. Within four years, he was widely accepted as the leading figure in jazz violin. At first, the violin proved to be a handicap. Few at the time viewed the instrument as having a legitimate place in the modern jazz vocabulary. With a powerful sound that eschewed vibrato, Ponty distinguished himself with bebop-era phrasings and a punchy style influenced more by horn players than by anything previously tried on the violin. Nobody had heard anything quite like it before. Critics said then that he was the first jazz violinist to be as exciting as a saxophonist. In 1969, Frank Zappa composed the music for Jean-Luc's solo album "King Kong", released on Blue Note. In 1972, Elton John invited Ponty to contribute to his "Honky Chateau" album. Within a year, at the urging of Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention who wanted him to join their tour, Ponty emigrated with his wife and two young daughters to America and made his home in Los Angeles. He continued to work on a variety of projects until 1975, when he signed on as a solo artist with Atlantic Records. For the next decade, Ponty toured the world repeatedly and recorded 12 consecutive albums which all reached the top 5 on the Billboard Jazz charts and sold millions of copies. Early Atlantic recordings, such as 1976's "Aurora" and "Imaginary Voyage", firmly established him as a figurehead in America's growing jazz-rock movement. He went on to crack the top 40 in 1977 with the "Enigmatic Ocean" album and again in 1978 with "Cosmic Messenger". Jean-Luc Ponty has been an avid user of 5-string electric violins with a lower C string since 1977. 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-1980s 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. This channel is dedicated to the classic jazz music you've loved for years. The smokin' hot, icy cool jams that still make you tap your feet whenever you hear them . . . Cool Jazz is here! For music videos of the Old School funk, go to: www.youtube.com/djbuddyloveold school To check out videos from The Roots Of Rap, go to: www.youtube.com/djbuddyloveraproots To explore the world of The DJ Cafe, go to: www.youtube.com/djbuddylovedjcafe If you love jamming to some great Classic Rock, check out: www.youtube.com/djbuddyloveclassrock Check out my newer music videos and other fun stuff at: www.youtube.com/djbuddylove3000 Check out my news videography stuff at: www.youtube.com/vonregandavis Also, check out my youngest daughter (the world's youngest video producer) at: www.youtube.com/DaddyzGirl3000 To stay updated about all my projects, please join my Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-Buddy-Love/114720773004?ref=sgm And coming in January 2011 . . . DJ Buddy Love presents LONGEVITY . . . A world record club DJ mixing marathon charity event . . . 121 hours nonstop to benefit cancer research . . . Live to the world via UStream, Facebook, YouTube & Twitter . . . More details coming soon . . . Enjoy!! ;~} Copyright 1978 Atlantic Records All Rights Reserved