Ya, Ponty played with Zappa..
I got turned onto him by a security guard here at work of all things! I was here coding late after most drones had gone home just blaring a Zappa show on my Grado's.. he was doing his rounds and proceeded to scare the hell out of me by tapping on the shoulder and asking what I was listening to.
He proceeded to bring in ponty albums over the next few weeks and I've loved it ever since. They sorta call him the hendrix of the electric violin
Imaginary Voyage, Enigmatic Ocean, Cosmic Messenger, and Civilized Evil are all great albums of his.. He's also on Hot Rats, King Kong, Apostrophe, and Shut up and Play yer guitar, FWIW.. This Joe Deninzon guy reminds me of him a lot..
Thanks for the advice, keep'em coming if you have any more!
Nick