The Atacama Experience

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The Atacama Experience
The Atacama Experience.jpg
Studio album by
Jean-Luc Ponty
ReleasedMay 8, 2007
Genre Jazz fusion, world fusion
Label Koch
Producer Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty chronology
Jean-Luc Ponty in Concert
(2003)		The Atacama Experience
(2007)		D-Stringz with Stanley Clarke, Bireli Lagrene (2015)

The Atacama Experience is an album by French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty that was released in 2007. It reached number 24 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart, Ponty's first charting album since Live at Chene Park in 1996. It is his first studio album in six years since Life Enigma . [1] The album personnel consists of Ponty's regular touring band with guest appearances by guitarists Allan Holdsworth (on track 4) and Philip Catherine (on tracks 2, 5 and 12). The title refers to the Atacama Desert on the Pacific coast of Chile. In the first edition of the album the name "Acatama" was used by mistake.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]

Critical reception for The Atacama Experience was generally favorable. Michael G. Nastos states in his AllMusic review, "Considering Ponty's most recent work...this recording is not only a welcome change of pace, but a return to the great music that made Ponty an important figure in contemporary music. This one is recommended with no hesitation, and is the brilliant violinist's best effort in nearly 30 years." [2] In his All About Jazz review, John Kelman called it "...a welcome return to form. Thoroughly engaging, it possesses the enduring compositional depth and unmistakable solo acumen that's kept Ponty's name alive, even during years when he's been away from the public eye." [1] Jesse Hamlin of SFGate stated that Ponty "sounds sensational" on the album, describing it as "a sort of musical travelogue featuring music partly inspired by his trips to India, Ireland and the vast Atacama desert of northern Chile." [3]

Track listing

All songs by Jean-Luc Ponty unless otherwise noted.

  1. "Intro" – 0:15
  2. "Parisian Thoroughfare" (Bud Powell) – 4:39
  3. "Premonition" – 3:43
  4. "Point of No Return" – 6:45
  5. "Back in the 60's" – 4:03
  6. "Without Regrets" – 4:29
  7. "Celtic Steps" – 5:52
  8. "Desert Crossing" – 3:03
  9. "Last Memories of Her" – 5:21
  10. "The Atacama Experience" – 2:01
  11. "On My Way to Bombay" – 4:32
  12. "Still in Love" – 5:07
  13. "Euphoria" (William Lecomte) – 4:49
  14. "To and Fro" – 4:21

Personnel

Production

YearChartPosition
2007Billboard Top Jazz Albums24

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References

  1. 1 2 3 All About Jazz review by John Kelman.
  2. 1 2 Nastos, Michael G.. The Atacama Experience at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Hamlin, Jesse (November 3, 2009). "Fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty electrifies". SFGate. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
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