There's no veneer to Jean-Luc Ponty, the jazz violinist who's appearing at Berklee Performance Center Thursday night.

You might expect, and could forgive, a little crustiness if you consider his path: decades of performing, thousands of concerts, hundreds of venues, and dozens of tours in countries uncounted. After classical training and a symphony job right after, he helped shape the futures of rock and jazz during stints with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. He's been a successful bandleader and composer for more than 25 years.

But talk to him, or read his dialogue with fans on the message board of his website, ponty.com, and his freshness, enthusiasm, and accessibility are striking. On the phone from France last week, when asked simply what is on his mind these days, Ponty, 61, bubbled forth with "the joy of performing. It is still exciting to me, and amazing that there are still people who want to hear me after all these years."

Cynics might wonder if it isn't just patter, something to say to a reporter, but if it is, he hides his weariness well. He says he still tours, even without a new album to boost, because he likes to perform. "I don't know how long I'll be able to. Violin is a difficult instrument to play, and I feel I really have mastered the instrument technically better than ever. As long as I feel I have indeed things to say on my instrument, I go on."

Two years ago, when he did have a new album to promote, he chose to do so through a series of appearances at stores that began at Borders in Peabody. He said that interacting with fans was the best part of the odd promotional tour, in which he played only three songs backed by tracks he had recorded at his home studio in France. "I've never been that close to fans. There was really more direct contact, and I enjoyed that," he said. Though he said he isn't able to experience the same closeness from a stage, he's eager for this monthlong North American run, which began Friday night on Long Island. "I'm looking to get my fix of energy that I receive from the American audiences."

Over his career, Ponty has penned more than 150 compositions, many of which carry ethereal names such as "Metamorphosis," "Introspective Perceptions," and "Mystical Adventures." Though he is articulate, even in his nonnative English, he struggles when asked how he translates thoughts and feelings into music.

"It is like trying to explain religious faith, or a belief in God," he said, an analogy apt for his music, which he describes as melodic, rhythmic, and spiritual. "I think some people are very articulate in language and able to at least give a good explanation of their motivation, yet you don't know what it means until you hear the music, really. Which means that indeed it is unexplainable."

Ponty did say, though, that his approach has grown more intuitive and emotional. "I'm trying to avoid the more intellectual approach to deliver something as simple as I can, and which can touch people. You know, I'm trying to create, with my music, an ideal world which I do not find on this planet somehow."

Though he said he avidly seeks out all forms of current music, he doesn't consider what he hears to be much of an influence. "Whenever I pick up my instrument or write music, I still find myself."

The Jean-Luc Ponty Band performs at the Berklee Performance Center Thursday Oct. 23 at 7:30. Stanley Clarke shares the bill. Tickets $36, $26. Call 617-747-2261.