VIOLINIST JEAN-LUC PONTY SCHEDULED TO RELEASE LIFE ENIGMA ON JULY 31st; FIRST NEW SOLO STUDIO ALBUM IN SEVEN YEARS!

Virtuoso violinist Jean-Luc Ponty is slated to release his first new solo studio album in seven years, Life Enigma, on July 31, 2001. The pioneering jazz and rock musician is issuing Life Enigma on his own label through his JLP Productions Inc. company. He composed, engineered and produced Life Enigma.

Ponty says Life Enigma is a return to the musical style he perfected during his decade-long stint with Atlantic Records, including his two most commercially popular albums, 1977's Enigmatic Ocean and 1978's Cosmic Messenger.

“I did consciously decide to utilize a similar style on Life Enigma, but it's also influenced by the world music I recorded with West African musicians in the 1990s," he explains.

The 10 songs on Life Enigma are: “Two Thousand One Years Ago," “Signals From Planet Earth," “Firmament," “Lonely Among All," “The Infinite Human Caravan," “Pizzy Cat," “Life Enigma," “Even the Sun Will Die," “Love at Last Sight" and “And Life Goes On." These Ponty compositions encompass a variety of textures, often within the same song. His mastery of explosively bright and richly warm violin lines anchors the memorable melodies.

Many songs on Life Enigma are complete solo performances on which Ponty played several instruments. Other tracks feature new and longtime Ponty band members including keyboardist William Lecomte, bassist Guy Akwa Nsangu