Jon Anderson and Jean-Luc Ponty are hardly strange musical bedfellows.
The two come from similarly adventurous aesthetics — Anderson with prog-rock heroes Yes, violinist Ponty from a broad course of jazz and rock fusion that’s included his own work plus tenures with Frank Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever and more. Now they’ve formed the AndersonPonty Band, playing material from each of their repertoires.
“I got in touch with Jean-Luc through a friend and I listened to his ‘Greatest Hits’ and started singing on a couple of them for fun, and I sent back some music ideas to him and he really liked them and he started sending me some of his new music and it sorta clicked,” Anderson, 71, says by phone from rehearsals in Pennsylvania for the AndersonPonty Band’s current tour.
“The way he plays violin is so magical and the mood of his music is very, very clear, and I just happen to enjoy singing them. So we decided I’d write songs with him and we started talking about going on tour and everything. It was very natural and easy.”
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“I got in touch with Jean-Luc through a friend and I listened to his ‘Greatest Hits’ and started singing on a couple of them for fun, and I sent back some music ideas to him and he really liked them and he started sending me some of his new music and it sorta clicked,” Anderson, 71, says by phone from rehearsals in Pennsylvania for the AndersonPonty Band’s current tour.
“The way he plays violin is so magical and the mood of his music is very, very clear, and I just happen to enjoy singing them. So we decided I’d write songs with him and we started talking about going on tour and everything. It was very natural and easy.”
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The duo has so far released a live album and DVD, “Better Late Than Never,” recorded during shows last fall in California. They plan to work on new material, too, along with more live performances that will be both stripped-down and acoustic as well as a full-scale orchestra and choir concert piece.
“I think the days of just going into a studio and making an album are not what I want to do anymore,” Anderson says. “I’m more interested in the adventure of free-form ideas. I know it sounds crazy, but I like it when you’re not quite sure what you’re gonna do until you get on stage.”
“I think the days of just going into a studio and making an album are not what I want to do anymore,” Anderson says. “I’m more interested in the adventure of free-form ideas. I know it sounds crazy, but I like it when you’re not quite sure what you’re gonna do until you get on stage.”
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