Richard Bona
| Richard Bona | |
|---|---|
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Bona performing in 2009
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo[1] |
| Born | 28 October 1967 Minta, Cameroon |
| Genres | Jazz fusion, ethno jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, double bass, percussion, vocals, guitar, balafon |
| Labels | Universal Music, Columbia, Sony, Verve, GRP |
| Associated acts | Pat Metheny Group, Zawinul Syndicate, Mike Stern |
| Website | bonamusic |
Richard Bona (born 28 October 1967 in Minta, Cameroon) is a jazz bassist and musician.[2]
Contents
Early life
Bona was born into a family of musicians, which enabled him to start learning music from a young age. His grandfather was a griot – a West African singer of praise and storyteller – and percussionist, and his mother was a singer. At 4 years old, Bona started to play the balafon. At the age of 5, he began performing at his village church. Not being wealthy, Bona made many of his own instruments: including flutes and guitars (with cords strung over an old motorcycle tank).[3]
His talent was quickly noticed, and he was often invited to perform at festivals and ceremonies. Bona began learning to play the guitar at age 11, and in 1980 aged just 13, he assembled his first ensemble for a French jazz club in Douala.[4] The owner befriended him and helped him discover jazz music, in particular that of Jaco Pastorius, which inspired Bona to switch his focus to the electric bass.[5]
Career
Bona emigrated to Germany at the age of 22 to study music in Düsseldorf,[4] soon relocating to France, where he furthered his studies in music.
Whilst in France, he regularly played in various jazz clubs, sometimes with players such as Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Jacques Higelin and Didier Lockwood.
In 1995, Richard left France and established himself in New York, where he still lives and works. In New York he played bass guitar with artists like Joe Zawinul, Larry Coryell, Michael and Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, George Benson, Branford Marsalis, Chaka Khan, Bobby McFerrin, and Steve Gadd.
In 1998, Richard was the Musical Director on Harry Belafonte's European Tour.
His debut solo album, Scenes from My Life, was released in 1999. He has also been prominently featured in Jaco Pastorius Big Band albums, as well as many other albums by various top-tier jazz musicians.
In 2002 Bona went on a world tour with the Pat Metheny Group. The release of the successful Speaking of Now album that year had marked a profound change in the group's direction by adding younger musicians to the band, notably with Bona as bassist, vocalist, guitarist and percussionist, along with drummer Antonio Sanchez and trumpet player Cuong Vu.
In 2005 Bona released his fourth solo album Tiki, which included a collaboration with John Legend on one track, entitled "Please Don't Stop." The album was nominated for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 49th Grammy Awards.
He held a professorship of jazz music at New York University.[6]
In 2015, with restaurateur Laurent Dantonioin, opens Club Bonafide the Best Room in NYC.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (WA) [7] |
FRA [8] |
NLD [9] |
POL [10] |
US World Albums [11] |
|||
| Scenes from My Life |
|
— | — | — | — | — | |
| Reverence |
|
— | 93 | — | — | — | |
| Munia |
|
— | 90 | — | — | — | |
| Toto Bona Lokua (with Gerald Toto and Lokua Kanza) |
|
— | — | — | — | 6 | |
| Tiki |
|
— | 118 | 81 | 41 | 10 | |
| The Ten Shades of Blues |
|
— | 116 | 49 | — | — | |
| Bonafied |
|
159 | 162 | — | 33 | — | |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
Live albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| FRA [8] |
||
| Bona Makes You Sweat |
|
167 |
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Kaze ga Kureta Melody |
|
As guest artist
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| Album | Year | Main Artist |
|---|---|---|
| An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends | 1997 | Harry Belafonte |
| Voices | 2001 | Mike Stern |
| Beyond Words | 2002 | Bobby McFerrin |
| Rhizome | 2004 | Mario Canonge |
| Live in Montreal | 2005 | Bobby McFerrin |
| Who Let the Cats Out? | 2006 | Mike Stern |
| Moyo | 2007 | Keiko Matsui |
| Kosmo | 2009 | Maria Markesini |
| Mwaliko | 2010 | Lionel Loueke |
| All Over the Place | 2012 | Mike Stern |
References
- ↑ http://www.polskieradio.pl/5/3/Artykul/951790,Muzyk-Richard-Bona-wystapi-w-pieciu-polskich-miastach
- ↑ http://www.markbass.it/artist_detail.php?id=1196
- ↑ http://www.bonamusic.com/about/long-bio/
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.bonamusic.com/about/short-bio/
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Peak chart positions in Poland:
- Tiki: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Bonafied: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Bona. |
- EngvarB from August 2014
- Use dmy dates from August 2014
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- Articles using small message boxes
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Official website not in Wikidata
- 1967 births
- Living people
- Jazz bass guitarists
- Cameroonian musicians
- Pat Metheny Group members
