Jean-Luc Ponty's 'Imaginary Voyage' Ageless, Brings Back Magic of Youthful Listening Sessions3/18/2018
By John Crossett III
One of the few joys that come with being an older music lover/audiophile is finding LP’s in your collection that you haven’t listened to in forever, but that, at one time, contained some of the most important music of your life. When I was younger (and so much wiser than today) my thoughts on what jazz was were contained in grooves the likes of this album - “Imaginary Voyage” by Jean-Luc Ponty. Fusion. That was jazz to me. And I loved it. This album in particular was a favorite.
Right from the opening track, “New Country” I was hooked. Ponty had a way with playing (and writing) music that was at once accessible and challenging to listen to. Here he was backed up by Daryl Stuemer, Allan Zavod, Tom Fowler and Mark Craney.
The music is what grabbed my attention as a kid, but today, one of the things about this particular album that seals the deal as an all-time fav is the fact that it was mastered by the great George Piros (yes, THAT George Piros) who did most of the work for Mercury Records back when those Living Presence LP’s were giving RCA’s Living Stereo albums a run for their money as far as recorded sound was concerned. George knew his stuff, and any album, classical, pop or jazz he had a hand in is well worth seeking out to truly hear everything that is within those grooves. And in the case of this album, what’s in those grooves is some damn fine fusion. Ponty had chops. After all, he’d played with quite a variety of musicians and genres - think of his time with Frank Zappa - so he knew what he wanted to say, and how to say it. I loved this album as a kid, and pulling it out now, and giving it a spin on a system that would have made that long gone kid shit his pants shows me that while the years have rolled by, and my musical tastes have changed (improved?!), my ear for great music has not. What I enjoyed in my younger days is still great music. This albums proves it. Most highly recommended. You can find John M. Crossett III's work on Facebook on his page at 'Aural Musings.'
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