On "Tchokola" (Epic, 1991) Ponty combined acoustic and electric violins for the first time with polyrhythmic sounds of West Africa. He performed for two months in the U.S. and Canada with African expatriates he had met in Paris. In 1993 he returned to Atlantic with the album "No Absolute Time". In 1995 he joined guitarist Al Di Meola and bassist Stanley Clarke to record an acoustic album, "The Rite of Strings". This trio undertook a six-month tour of North America, South America, and Europe. He reunited his American band in 1996 for live performances following the release of a double album for Atlantic entitled "". One of these concerts was recorded in Detroit, Michigan on June 29, 1996, and released in October 1996 by Atlantic under the title "Live at Chene Park".