Jean-Luc Ponty & Opolopo In The Fast Lane

Vive La Musique is proud to present the first record in a special series, celebrating legendary French musician Jean-Luc Ponty and his influence on electronic dance music.

Ponty is a prolific composer with over thirty albums to his name, exploring a wide spectrum of jazz, fused with rock, electronic music and later in his career, West African sounds. A virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, famed for being one of the pioneers of the electric violin, Ponty also experimented with synthesis, composing a number of his albums with the Synclavier - one of the first synths to link up to a computer, offering the opportunity to create and combine multiple sounds.

Originally released in 1989 on the Storytelling album, 'In the Fast Lane' is a rich and vibrant composition, with Ponty's rhythmical Synclavier keys and uplifting violin melodies dancing over a driving offbeat groove. The track lit up dancefloors in the UK jazz-dance movement which started in the late 80's and is one of the all-time classic tunes from the Dingwalls sessions. As well as being a firm favourite of an endless list of underground heavyweights including Theo Parrish, Floating Points, Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge and many others, it, was also championed by influential Detroit radio DJ the Electrifying Mojo. This no doubt led to the track being cited as a key influence by many of the pioneers of the early Detroit Techno movement. Vive La Musique brings this unique track to the 12" single format for the first time, beautifully remastered by Atjazz and cut loud at 45 rpm. The release also features a brilliant cover version from Opolopo. He faithfully recreates the original synth lines around a deep and jazzy house groove, producing a modern dancefloor masterpiece, which highly impressed Ponty. The 12" is presented with stunning artwork by Michal Rafaj and liner notes written by Ponty himself, telling the story of how the track was composed and recorded as well as exclusive photographs that have never been published before.