Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Richard Bona (Cameroon) |
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Richard Bona started singing in the village church at age of 5 years old,
accompanied by instruments as a wooden flute and hand percussion. Later, he built his first
In 1980, a French hotel owner asked him to assemble a jazz band for the hotel's jazz club. Although he had no particular knowledge of jazz, he spent all day in the hotel listening to jazz records, learning how to play various instruments and learning to compose songs. By chance he heard the self-titled debut album of Jaco Pastorius, the bassist of Weather Report, and he decided to become a bassist. In 1989, Richard Bona moved to Paris where he played with French musicians but also with fellow Africans Manu Dibango and Salif Keita. Moving to New York in 1995, he soon joined the Zawinul Syndicate and Bona has since worked with Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon and many others. |
Title | Year | Label | Remarks |
The Ten Shades of Blues | 2009 | Universal | |
Bona Makes You Sweat (Live) | 2008 | Emarcy Records | Live recording |
Tiki | 2005 | Universal | |
Munia (The Tale) | 2003 | Emarcy/Universal | US: Verve |
Reverence | 2001 | Columbia CK 85270-2 | |
Kaze ga Kureta Melody | 2000 | Sony | Exclusive Japanese release |
Scenes from My Life | 1999 | Sony Music CK 69768-2 |