JEAN-LUC PONTY — Aurora (review)

JEAN-LUC PONTY — Aurora album cover Album · 1976 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Sean Trane
As mentioned in my other reviews of Ponty’s albums of the mid to late 70’s, once you have one, it is a bit like you have them all. Not that there are no difference between the albums and that some are better than others (but this will come down to private colours and tastes), but unless an absolute fan, you will recognize Ponty’s work fairly easily, but will not be likely to know to which album you are listening to, as one gets definitely the feeling they are interchangeable. This remark is valid on the long run of the albums streak, but this album along with Upon The Wings Of Music were the album that served as blueprints for the later ones.

So when all albums from that period are even quality, I will generally refer to the earlier ones (such as here) for my recommendation. Somehow after leaving Mahavishnu, Ponty still retains a certain taste for the ultra fast fusion that RTF or WR report are well known for, but to me , this second half of the 70’s is much less interesting than the previous half decade on the jazz rock front. As a matter of fact, the quieter tracks (such as Renaissance, here) on his albums are somehow close to ECM label jazz-rock albums, with all the risks of being sometimes close elevator music (but let me tell you that if I hear Ponty in the elevator, I will stay in it until it is finished even if late ;-). Anyway among the highlights of the album is the two-part title track, Passenger Of The Dark (where future-Genesis Darryl Struemer shines on guitar) and Lost Forest

Hardly groundbreaking, this is the type of album that was made by the dozen per year around those years, and it will be entirely up to you to see if you really have space for more than two Ponty albums in your shelves. Should you have that extra space (knowing that you must reserve more for similar artistes), might I suggest that this be one of them? And if you must have only one of them, this would also be a good choice.

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