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JOHN
PONDEL |
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MUSIC
WEB EXPRESS 3000 presents JOHN PONDEL Well,
I grew up in Los Angeles.
This
is a self titled album with electric guitar, acoustic bass and percussion...no
drumset. It was recorded last summer at NRS studios near Woodstock,
N.Y. by the owner and operator Scott Petito. He's got great ears,
lots of experience and excellent gear.
On the
classical side I’ve probably listened the most to Bach, Ravel,
Debussy, Mahler, Hindemith, and to many classical guitar composers
such as Villa–Lobos, Albeniz, Tarrega, Sor... I still love to
listen to Sinatra, The Beatles, The Police, Stevie Wonder, Sarah Vaughan.
I think Merle Haggard is pretty heavy. Wes Montgomery, Howard Roberts,
Barney Kessel and Joe Pass were undoubtedly my biggest influences
as far as jazz guitar is concerned but I was also into Jimi Hendrix,
John McLaughlin, Jimmy Page and early Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter
Green, who really had a great vibrato when he bent strings. There’s
a lot more but these are the essential artists for me. Like a lot
of jazz oriented guitarists who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s
Wes Montgomery’s Smoking At The Half Note just stopped
you in your tracks. H.R. (Howard Roberts) Is A Dirty Guitar Player
and Joe Pass’s Virtuoso are also high on my list as albums
that influenced me early on. Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Inner
Mounting Flame, Pat Metheny’s Bright Sized Life (and
many after that) came later. Also lots of R&B and funk. I wore
out Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book and Innervisions
as well as numerous Tower of Power and P.Funk albums. Jobim, Gal Costa,
Elis Regina are a few of the Brazilian artists that I loved and still
do.
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One
of those rare guitar instrumental CDs that just seems to get better
with each spin, John Pondel’s self-titled 2009 CD release is
gaining lots of acclaim in the jazz community. Commenting on the CD,
the guitarist adds, ‘I’ve had a varied career as an educator,
pop and jazz musician, television composer and producer. Jazz and
improvised music however are, and have been my first loves since I
was a teenager.’ At age 20, Pondel went to work as the first
call guitarist with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra and over time Pondel
furthered his craft studying and working alongside guitar giants such
as Joe Pass, Jimmy Wyble and Ted Green adding, ‘I also got to
hang and got to know Lenny Breau a little bit and he showed me some
great things.’ Gaining further experience recording with the
groups Uncle Festive and Jazzhole, Pondel also played rhythm guitar
for George Benson on the jazz giant's track “Take You Out.’
Finally getting to record his own solo album, Pondel enlisted the
talents of some fine musicians. The guitarist adds, ‘I’m
very excited about my latest project, which happens to be my first
solo album with Scott Colley on bass and Marivaldo Dos Santos
on percussion and David Binney on sax and flute.’ Pondel’s
music is very much camped out in the jazz realm yet the all instrumental
CD also flirts with Brazilian music, but with some unexpected twists
and turns. Amid the all original tracks is a Pondel cover of “The
Jody Grind,” originally written by Horace Silver. Fans of the
great jazz guitar giants—from Kenny Burrell and Joe Pass to modern
masters like Pat Martino and Pat Metheny—will find much great
jazzy guitar sounds to enjoy here. 
My older brother got interested in the guitar when I was eleven and
I pretty much did everything he did. That was way back there...1963.
Up until that time I mainly listened to the radio and to a few albums
that we had on our hi fi (mono) turntable. We had pop and R&B
stuff like Sam Cooke, Frankie Avalon, Elvis and Jackie Wilson (Sinatra
too). Also, folk music artists like The Limelighters, The Weavers,
Christie Minstrels and Joe & Eddie. My favorite folk person was
Hoyt Axton cause he had an edge to him and was such a great wordsmith.
I learned to sing and play lots of his songs early on. We also had
the soundtrack to West Side Story and I listened to that over
and over again and learned to sing all the songs. Speaking of singing,
I usually sang in the school choirs in elementary school and junior
high. It's just another good training ground, a different kind of
experience and exposes you to music that you might not hear at home;
music from musicals, chorals, etc. My brother took the guitar lessons
and taught me what he learned when he got home. A year later we were
doing gigs at some local parks and then in some folk clubs. About
that time my parents bought an FM radio and I heard Wes Montgomery
on the old LA jazz station KBCA and kind of flipped out...not kind
of, I did! I tried to learn to solo like that but couldn't really
comprehend what was going on. I basically studied on my own for the
next few years. I played and listened to a lot of Brazilian music
in those days. There was a good Jobim book and one by Charlie Byrd
that had the chord symbols and fingerings. At 16 I got very serious
with harmony, sight reading, jazz theory with my mentor Duke Miller.
I also studied classical theory in high school. I worked plenty of
weddings and night clubs back then, playing all styles of music and
singing as well. I went to Los Angeles Valley Junior College and majored
in music for two years. From there I went on to Cal State Northridge
and played in the Jazz band for two years under the direction of Joel
Leach. I also took lessons from Joe Pass, Jimmy Wyble and hung out
as much as I could with Ted Green who also became a friend and mentor...what
a genius. Of course I was practicing and playing constantly and going
to hear live music all the time. At 20 I became a member of Gerald
Wilson's band and just worked my way into studio and back up work
from there. In the 80's I eventually started making jazz oriented
albums with group partners up to the present and now, my first solo
album. So that's it in a nutshell.
The
recording rooms sound great as well. Scott Colley played bass. He’s
one of the most intuitive and flexible bass players out there. Just
an amazing artist and person. I decided that I wanted a more open
sound on the low end and opted to go with a percussionist and not
use a kick drum. I like the way it turned out. I can hear Scott so
clearly and the low end of the guitar is really present as well. It's
just a more open sound overall. My old friend and great musician David
Binney, who plays flute on two songs and alto on one, recommended
Marivaldo Dos Santos from Brazil for percussion and he used a hybrid
set that did include a ride cymbal for a more jazzy feel. The grooves
are not straight-ahead by any means. They have more of a straight
eighth/Brazilian feel you could say, in a generalized way. My amp
was in another room, something I don't usually like to do but I positioned
myself close to Marivaldo and could also see Scott in his room through
the glass doors. It made it easy to give cues and we got a great mix
in the headphones so it was cool. It took me 3 years to come up with
enough material that I felt good enough about to make a record. I
have one cover tune, “The Jody Grind,” which has a soul
jazz vibe on Horace Silver's original. I think we preserved the vibe
of the original but put our own stamp on it. Aside from that I guess
my writing could be categorized as modern jazz (whatever that is)...some
odd time and nontraditional harmony. Mostly though, the music does
groove and it's easy to feel where the pocket is. I also like to play
straight-ahead jazz, funk and soul jazz so I guess I'm somewhat of
a musical chameleon. I'd feel at home doing a free jazz record as
well. 
I
have ‘67 Gibson ES 335 that I love to play jazz oriented music
on. My left hand just seems to mold really well to that kind of neck.
I have a '75 Les Paul Standard (may he rest in peace) that also feels
and sounds great but it's too heavy for me to stand and play with
it for extended periods. My main electric guitar and the one I used
on the album is a custom made Valley Arts Guitar Center Strat made
for me by Mike McGuire back around 1979 early 1980. I use a hybrid
set of strings on it from .46 .36. .24. .17. 12. .11. My pickups are
really old Seymour Duncan Vintage Hot Stack Strat style from the late
70’s. I used the front pickup exclusively for this album and
it really gets a warm tone but not like a big jazz box with a lot
of sound coming from the wood. I actually, and amazingly, got lucky
with my amp situation and borrowed an amp from Artist Share president
Brian Camilio. It’s Jim Hall’s old Gibson amp that he used
on the Sonny Rollins album, The Bridge from 1962. It has two
8 inch speakers, doesn’t get very loud but has unbelievable tone.