Jean-Luc Ponty immersed himself in music at a very early age. He was 13 when he quit school to practice six hours a day. At 16, the young musician was admitted to the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris. He graduated two years later with the highest honors. Thanks to the influence of Stéphane Grappelli, Ponty got into jazz. In the late 1960's, he took a trip to the U.S. which opened his ears to rock music. Soon, the musician was collaborating with Frank Zappa. In the mid-1970's, after a stint with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ponty went solo and recorded an ambitious string of jazz-rock albums. At the turn of the 1980's, the violinist introduced keyboards into his music when he felt it needed to take a new direction. Since the turn of the new century, Ponty has carried on touring and recording regularly. Released in 2007, The Acatama Experience was hailed as one of his stronger efforts.