Oh, what a show! I've been looking forward to seeing Jean-Luc Ponty for several months, since purchasing the tickets. Admittedly, I have not kept up with his career lately, but JLP's music is like an old friend. It's hard to believe that Cosmic Messenger, Enigmatic Ocean, and Imaginary Voyage are over 30 years old. Time surely flies, as it seems like only yesterday that I was listening to these records in my college frat-house.
Last night, my friend Dan and I went to the later (and latter) of 2 shows at the One World. The seats were fantastic, being in the front row, putting us no more than about 10 feet away from Jean-Luc and his 3 band-mates:
- Baron Browne - 4 and 5 String Electric Bass
- Damien Schmidt - Drums
- William Lecomte - Keyboards
I was unable to find a set list, but I reckon that they played close to 90 minutes, with each musician taking a solo, and a single song encore, Big Country. I can remember them playing Cosmic Messenger,
and a new arrangement of The Struggle of the Turtle to the Sea.
I found it somewhat funny that even though there was no guitarist present, I could hear the guitar parts inside of my head.
I was very impressed with the band, and keyboardist was fantastic. Jean-Luc joked that the drummer Damien wanted to get out of playing, and become a producer. That will be a shame if he does.
In closing let me just say that I now wish I had bought tickets to both shows.
