Jean Luc Ponty, interviu pentru blogul istodor. JOIA Asta, CONCERT, BUCURESTI

URAAAA! Joi are concert. Interviul de azi este cu Jean Luc Ponty. Tipu’ cu vioara m-a fermecat cu jazzul si-n copilaria mea si, uite-l, si acum. Il pot atinge, asculta. Il ascultam si-l ascult cu mindrie. Ca l-am gasit in viata mea. Vioara il face om. Omul face vioara.

Which is Ponty’s philosophy on life?

JLP: I am a musician, not a philosopher, music is a mix of conscious and unconscious expression that is as mysterious as life itself.

What place in this world makes you feel at home?

JLP: wherever I am on the planet with my wife, children and grandchildren.

What frightens you?

JLP: interviews….ahaha (laughs)……no…..seriously, earthquakes, I experienced a few in California, tsunamis, hurricanes and every time nature shows its enormous power, like in Haiti and Chile recently.

What is the meaning, soul, philosophy of a violin? Is she alive when plays?

JLP: The violin is a wooden box, a music tool that can sound good or bad depending on whether the violinist is good or bad.

How is your relation with your violin? Is she a living person, a woman, a lover, a scalve of passion/pleasure or are you her slave?

JLP: My wife never had to be jealous of my violin because I have always consider it as an object and not a woman.

Is she obeying your demands or she has her own rithm and you have to adjust one another?

JLP: I am impressed by your imagination but let us be realistic, violin has no life of its own, however it is the most difficult musical instrument to master physically, therefore it requires to practice all the time, like athletes or jugglers have to. But for me the spirit is in the music much more than in the instrument. In my mind the music I compose comes first in the order of importance and I don’t write music for the violin specifically but for my whole band, and I have great musicians with me by the way. I use the violin like one of the voices in my band, at the service of the music, which is why my concept has always been to adapt the violin to jazz and not the other way around.

Do you live in an ivory tower or you feel the pulse of the world ?

JLP: When I became successful in America I lived in an ivory tower for a few years, in fact I had a recording studio in my home in Los Angeles which I named ‘La Tour d’Ivoire’ ….ivory tower in French…….but it did not last very long, I immersed myself in the world again soon after and ever since

How do you feel the people and the whole planet around you; do you relate with its colours, sounds, sorrows or joys ? Is the world tic-tac following you everywhere, in your concerts tours?

JLP: I have always been very sensitive to the environment around me, at home and on tour, to nature as much as people, and music is for me a way to express my reactions to the world around me and also to create an ideal imaginary world.

What in the contemporary society makes you nervous or sick (borrows you)?

JLP: Many things make me sick but to stay on the subject of music, I see a move toward abandoning high artistic standards for mass appeal due to financial profit being the priority in our society. I am tolerant and accept that all types of music from very popular to very elitist have their purpose, but one of the greatest challenges that mankind has always faced is to find the right balance, it’s always too much one side or the other, and now it’s too much leaning toward mass appeal.

Do you believe in God?

JLP: The more I read about current discoveries in astrophysics and the more I believe in a superior intelligence that created the whole universe, which we call God.

Are you afraid by OZN and living persons in the universe?

JLP: If I have ever meet an extra-terrestrial I will let you know if it was a nice or a frightening experience, but perhaps it will be the extra-terrestrial who will be frightened when he sees my blue electric violin……(laughs).

Which music do you prefer? Which book?

JLP: I listen to a great variety of music and read as many books as I can about every possible subject. I keep learning as much as I can about music and life, knowing that I will die before I could learn everything there is to learn.

What art makes you vibrate ? Music, visual art, literature?

JLP: All of them, but music first, then litterature and visual art, in that order.

it would be nice if you could mention my website www.ponty.com for those interested in finding more information with my best wishes Jean Luc Ponty