With bass in hand Richard Bona speaks many languages – but catch him in the middle of a phrase, and it's as if his notes are chosen just for your ears. Add his haunting falsetto vocals, and now you're listening to arguably the most identifiable, soul-stirring voice on the bass guitar since Jaco Pastorius. His first instrument was the balafon – similar to a xylophone – which he learnt to play at age five.
By 11, he was a guitarist in bands in Cameroon and by 14 was adept at jazz. Subsequent moves to Paris and then New York added to his story: he took up the bass following an epiphany when he first heard Jaco. “The first time I heard Jaco, I was 14 and everything changed,” Bona told Bass Player .
“I listened to every record of his I could find and I learned every note.” While Bona's multi-layered rhythmic approach and sheer lyricism have earned him bass guitar hero status, he has also parlayed his singular vocals into a career as a globally successful solo artist, selling thousands of albums worldwide. His 2005 effort, Tiki , served up fat fretless phrases, and ghost-note-enhanced world grooves.
“I wanted to make a record about how closely Brazil and Africa are related musically, culturally, and in so many other ways. When you play Brazilian music in Africa, people start dancing right away. I wanted to sing about that relationship: the things we smell, touch, taste, and hear in our everyday lives that bring us together.
” South American influences notwithstandi.
