Richard Bona at Ethno Jazz Festival: jazz inspirations and a collaboration with Manu Dibango

For 10 years, Ethno Jazz Festival has presented Wrocław audiences with the brightest international stars of world music and jazz. In 2016, its landmark anniversary promises many musical surprises! On 22 February, a Wrocław audience favourite dubbed the “African Sting”, RICHARD BONA, will appear with his band at BF Impart, ul. Mazowiecka 17!

The Cameroonian multi-instrumentalist has been surrounded by music since early childhood. At 5, he was already singing with his family in the local church. The first instruments he learnt were the recorder and various unusual percussion instruments. A little later, he built his own 12-string acoustic guitar. At 11, he moved to the larger city of Douala and began earning his living playing electric guitar. There, he discovered his extraordinary talent for easily learning any instrument by ear. In 1980, the French owner of a jazz club in a local hotel heard him and suggested that he form a big band.

Bona moved to Paris in 1989. There he soon began working with leading French jazz musicians, violinist Didier Lockwood and bassist Marc Ducret, and African-born jazz stars Manu Dibango and Salif Keita. Bona spent 7 years in Paris, honing his skills and learning from outstanding musicians, including Joe Zawinul.

Richard Bona was a member of Pat Metheny Group and has also worked with Michael Brecker, Paul Simon, Chaka Khan, Tito Puente, Joni Mitchell, Harry Connick Jr., Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Harry Belafonte and George Benson. His style draws on jazz, bossa nova, pop, Afrobeat, traditional songs and funk.

Beyond his impressive list of star collaborators, he has his own recordings to boast of, revealing a gift for storytelling and surprising listeners as a musician, singer and “one of the best bassists in the world”. His style sits at the intersection of jazz, bossa nova, pop, Afrobeat, traditional songs and funk. Wrocław audiences remember his concerts with Anna Maria Jopek and the world music supergroup Toto/Bona/Lokua.

The February concert will feature the following line-up:

• Richard Bona – bass and vocals
• A.T.N. Stadwijk – keyboards
• Adam Stoler – guitar
• Tatum Greenblatt – trumpet
• Ludwig Afonso – drums

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