Jean-Luc Ponty is one of the rare artists who completely redefined his instrument’s role in modern music. Born in Avranches, France in 1942 and classically trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, he was originally on track for an orchestral career. But the discovery of Miles Davis and John Coltrane changed his course: Ponty began experimenting with the violin in a jazz setting, something few had dared to do at that time. By the 1960s, he was already a force in the European jazz scene, recording b