Richard Bona

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jazz, african, world, bass, fusion… see all

Born in 1967 in the village of Minta in East Cameroon, Bona grew up in a home filled with music. He began to perform in public at the age of five, singing in the village church with his mother and four sisters. His earliest instruments were wooden flutes and hand percussion. Eventually he constructed his own 12-string acoustic guitar. After moving to the bigger city of Douala, Richard began playing gigs at the age of 11 on a rented electric guitar. A major turning point in his life happened in 1980 when a Frenchman came to his town and established a jazz club in a local hotel. The club owner heard about the young local prodigy and hired him to assemble a band. “I didn’t know anything about jazz,” Richard says, “but the gig paid really well, so I took it.” The hotel provided the instruments, so Richard would spend his entire day there, learning to play all of the instruments and teaching himself to read and write music.

In 1989, at age 22, Bona moved to Paris and soon began working with such leading French musicians as violinist Didier Lockwood and bassist Marc Ducret as well as such African stars as Manu Dibango and Salif Keita. During his seven years in Paris, Richard refined his writing skills while further immersing himself in the music of jazz greats like Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Ben Webster.

Since arriving in New York in 1995, bassist-vocalist-composer Richard Bona has been one of the most sought-after talents on the scene.

1	Bisso Baba (Always Together) full track	116
2	Te Dikalo full track	85
3	Kalabancoro full track	81
4	Dipita full track	79
5	Eyala full track	77
6	Djombwe full track	68
7	Invocation (A Prophecy) full track	67
8	O Sen Sen Sen full track	65
9	New Bell full track	62
10	Sweet Mary (Everyone Has A Choice) full track	61
11	Tiki full track	55
12	Ekwa Mwato (Affirmation Of The Spirit) full track	51
13	Souwedi Na Wengue full track	50
14	Kivu full track	47
15	Te Misea (A Scream To Save The Planet) full track	45

Top Albums

Scenes From My Life
Richard Bona
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Reverence
Richard Bona
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Tiki
Richard Bona
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Munia (The Tale)
Richard Bona
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wonderland64 wrote:
last month

wunderschön - spitzensound !!!

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polveradelsur wrote:
July 2008

Tremendo artista!. A ver si aprende a tocar bises cuando el público se entrega y emociona. Para mi uno de los mejores músicos que hay, pero es más estirao...

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mauriciocaton wrote:
July 2008

I buy today the new album and sounds very good I saw this men a few years ago in live in vitoria jazz festival and it was amazing

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JazzKrysa wrote:
May 2008

His new album Bona Makes You Sweat is his best. It really captures the essence of his performance, soulful singing, at his best, live.

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lord_ahriman wrote:
April 2008

Which album is his best? I'd like to buy one to experience his music to the fullest.

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wmigda wrote:
April 2008

playing in Cracow on April 20th

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Pajsaren wrote:
March 2008

Come back to sweden with ur magic!

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ignisss2 wrote:
November 2007

oleggg : Iv'e got his autograph too, on my guitar ;P

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concretica wrote:
November 2007

!!! 0||0 !!!

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ignisss2 wrote:
November 2007

i was on his concert. it was great :)

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kuduaty wrote:
October 2007

gay taggin

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GotrekNephythys wrote:
September 2007

Richard rules...check out the Pat Metheny's Speaking of Now LIVE DVD, excellent stuff!

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el_chivo wrote:
August 2007

Wating to see him sep 7

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oleqqq wrote:
May 2007

Iv'e got his autograph hahahah :P Very cool guy

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soso111 wrote:
March 2007

check out the richard bona clip with bobby mcferrin on youtube.seriously, i recommend it deeply. just copy+paste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iimMKWF7SK0

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Camilojub wrote:
December 2006

I discovered him in the day of his show here, an amazing show!!

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dstalker34 wrote:
December 2006

I just caught Richard with Mike Stern, Dennis Chambers, and Bob Franceschini at Jazz Alley in Seattle. It was one of the most amazing shows. It's funny how a headliner like Mike Stern was able to be shown up by Bona and Chambers.

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yakobusan wrote:
October 2006

Just discovered him, he is awesome!

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GruGloG wrote:
May 2006

I saw him in Malmoe a while ago, this guy is fantastic. A must hear.

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thewhitesheep wrote:
May 2006

the one worthy guy of stepping into Jaco's footsteps...amazing amazing amazing. I would kill for seeing him in concert

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Recent Activity

jasmimlinda tagged Richard Bona with ‘vozes masculinas’. 3 hours ago
fafalala, Acacoatzin, worldofbirds and 4 other people added Richard Bona to their libraries. 4 hours ago
aliasas tagged Richard Bona with ‘african’. yesterday morning
nestander added Richard Bona to nestander’s library. yesterday morning
switi95 tagged Richard Bona with ‘cameroon’ and ‘africa’. Thursday evening
cgbel, phiaro, aremi74 and 10 other people added Richard Bona to their libraries. Thursday afternoon
umpolung tagged Richard Bona with ‘world’. Sunday afternoon
Ilmama, karolina-zagata, Zibicier and 5 other people added Richard Bona to their libraries. Sunday morning
country_trash tagged Richard Bona with ‘jazz’. last month
heedstoone, elshish, whyisittaken and 5 other people added Richard Bona to their libraries. last month