Album Review

Richard S. Ginell [allmusic.com]

As of 1976, Jean-Luc Ponty's variations on the Mahavishnu Orchestra theme were still fresh and imaginative, cast in a distinctively different, more lyrical, more controlled framework. For Imaginary Voyage, Ponty's instrumental lineup is identical to that of Mahavishnu -- electric violin, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums -- but he turns the emphasis on its head, with all commands coming directly from the violin (his) and less competitive crossplay emanating from his colleagues. For starters, ''New Country'' is a lively jazz-rock hoedown, one of those periodic C&W side trips that some fusioneers attempted for a lark, and ''The Gardens of Babylon'' is a wonderfully memorable tune, the beginnings of which grow out of ''New Country.'' The last half of the CD is taken up by the title composition, a strong four-part suite that hangs together with barely a sag in interest over its 20-minute span.