| "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 #36 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 ... |
