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Extrait de SCENES
OF MY LIFE (1999), avec:
sur "Djombwe": Richard Bona (voc,
guit, bass, percu); Aaron Heick (alto sax);
Etienne Stadwijk (keyb); Jeremy Gaddie (drums);
sur "New Bell": Richard Bona (voc,
guit, bass, percu); Mokthar Samba (drums); Alune
Faye (sabbar).
Biographie:
" b. 1967, Minta, East Cameroon. Raised
in a music-filled home where his mother and grandfather
were singers and the latter was also a percussionist, Bona
took an early interest in playing music. At the age of three
he showed an aptitude for the balafon, even making his own
instrument. He also sang and by the age of five was performing
in public with his family in the village church. He continued
to make his own instruments, among them wooden flutes and
percussion instruments, eventually building a 12-string
guitar. Bona's abilities as a performer, singer and instrumentalist,
led to a demand for his services and soon he moved to Douala
where he discovered that he had the phenomenal gift of learning
to play almost any instrument simply by watching other musicians.
At the age of 11 he began his career as a professional musician.
Two years later he was heard by the owner of a jazz club
at a local hotel. Hired to form a band, Bona set about teaching
himself to play all the instruments made available by the
hotel and to read and write music. Thanks to the club owner's
jazz record collection, Bona was able to learn the music
that would shape his life from this time onwards. It happened
that the first record Bona played was by the electric bass
guitarist Jaco Pastorius. Until this time, Bona had not
considered the bass as his instrument of choice, but he
immediately began to play bass and, significantly for his
future career, in the style he heard on the record. When
he was 22, Bona moved to Paris and within a few weeks was
working regularly with leading local jazzmen including Didier
Lockwood and Marc Ducret, and visiting artists such as Joe
Zawinul. Bona spent seven years in Paris, refining his writing
skills at music school. Following a visit to Senegal where
he performed at a jazz festival, Bona accepted an invitation
to visit New York. At this time, Bona knew no English but
the local music community was quick to embrace him and in
1995 he made the city his home. He played with Zawinul on
My People and subsequently on a world tour. Returning to
New York when the tour was over, Bona became Harry Belafonte
's bandleader and musical director for a year and a half.
His jazz work was extensive, including appearances with
Larry Coryell, Michael Brecker and Randy Brecker, Regina
Carter and Steve Gadd. At the end of 1998, Columbia Records
signed him and his debut, Scenes From My Life gained wide
critical and popular praise, displaying as it does, Bona's
distinctive singing voice and talent as a songwriter, rather
than showcasing his instrumental prowess. At the end of
the century, Bona was a fixture on the New York jazz scene,
recording with Mino Cinelu and often working with his own
quartet featuring pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, drummer Jonathan
Joseph and saxophonist Aaron Heick. Bona's playing demonstrates
a fascinating mixture of his musical roots, his assimilation
of jazz, and his remarkable technical skills. "
(source http://music.yahoo.com/)
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