Album review

Richard Bona's musical tales

New album from the Cameroonian bass star

Paris 

20/12/2005 - 

Barely a year after teaming up to form a temporary trio with Lokua Kanza and Gérald Toto, Cameroonian bass-player Richard Bona is back with his fourth solo album, Tiki. The album, largely recorded in Brazil, strikes a satisfyingly warm, harmonious and accessible note. Meanwhile, the DVD African Tale takes a behind-the-scenes look at Bona's world.

Richard Bona is a charismatic live performer, striking up an instant rapport with the audience as soon as he takes to the stage. Impossible not to succumb to the charm of Bona's broad grin and his easy-going joviality. Indeed, the bass-player's inter-song jokes appear to raise as many laughs from the crowd as his musical virtuosity rouses applause!

There's no doubt about it, Richard Bona is one of those larger-than-life personalities who makes an impact before he has even struck a chord on his cherished bass. What's more, since the release of his debut album, Scenes From My Life, in 1999, the Cameroonian musician has gone from being bass-player to Manu Dibango, calypso legend Harry Belafonte and Joe Zawinul (the co-founder of Weather Report) and, at 38 years old, has established himself as a respected figure on the jazz/world scene.

The basic elements in the Richard Bona story have been in the public domain for a while. Everyone knows he started out as a young child prodigy, playing the balafon in the local church in Minta at the age of five and making his own guitar shortly afterwards. In his teens, Bona went on to make his name on the jazz circuit, spending most of his adolescence hanging out in jazz clubs. Then he left his native Cameroon to spend time in Europe, a period which acted as a springboard to a career in the U.S., where he moved in 1995. The basic outline of the Richard Bona story has always been there. But it seems that a number of essential keys were missing when it came to piercing the mystery of this artist who sees himself primarily as "a storyteller" but has forgotten to tell his own tale.

The situation has now been set to rights with the release of Vincent Lepon's African Tale, a DVD that takes an in-depth look at the man behind the music. Interestingly enough, those interviewed in the DVD remember Richard Bona as a shy, withdrawn child, not given to playing with other children of his age. In short, the complete opposite of the sociable figure he cuts on stage today! The singer does not deny the charge, simply pointing out that he had little time in life for anything other than music. "When I set my mind to doing something," he says, "that was all I did. I threw myself into things 1,000%!"

The turning-point in Bona's life came when he was sixteen and heard legendary American bass-player Jaco Pastorius playing on an LP. Pastorius's fingers flew so rapidly across bass that the young teenager was convinced his friend had set the turntable on the wrong speed. But when he found out that the record-player was working normally, alarm bells started ringing in his head. "I thought to myself, 'I want to be able to play bass like that! I'm going to play bass like that! And from one day to the next, I gave up guitar and all the other instruments I'd played." Over twenty years later, Bona retains the same admiration for maestro "Pasto" and he has included a cover of Pastorius's Three Women as a tribute on his new album.

Passing on the flame

Another lasting musical influence in Bona's life was that exerted on the young bass-player by his late grandfather, who was a traditional singer. "He was the first musician who made a major impact on me," says Bona, with pride, "Whenever I have a quiet moment, I try and remember things he told me. And I immediately feel inspired. Melodies start rushing back into my head." Relatives describe the pair's relationship as being "almost fusional." It was certainly very special and, in a way, Bona owes his career to his grandfather for it was he who intervened on his behalf to make his parents recognise their son's talent. (Prior to that Richard's father, worried about the increasing amount of time he was devoting to music, had smashed his guitar over his offspring's head!)

Bona pays tribute to his grandfather on Tiki, passing on the traditional music heritage he received at his grandfather's side. Ida Bato is a song his grandfather taught him at the age of eight that had been handed down from his own grandfather. "It's a really old song," says Bona, "There are certain passages where I don't even understand what it means, because people must have spoken differently in those days. But I've used the words of the song exactly as I was taught them without changing a thing!"

The important thing, in Bona's eyes, is not necessarily understanding the meaning of the lyrics (although this may appear paradoxical for someone who considers themselves to be a storyteller), but bringing out the musicality of the words. "I've tried writing in French and English," he says, "but my music always sounds a lot better in my mother tongue... I've played with and listened to French 'singer-storytellers' such as Higelin and Nougaro. And when you listen to them, what you hear is poetry. Basically I feel that if I can't sing at that level, I just don’t want to do it. With everything I do, I want to be sure of doing it to a really high standard!"

This striving for perfection ultimately led to Bona giving up his original idea of recording his new album in India. On reflection, he decided he did not have the necessary circle of contacts for things to run smoothly enough. (All that remains of the original Indian 'project' is the presence of Susheela Raman who provides guest vocals on a song which retains faint traces of Indian influences behind the Brazilian baïon.) Bona ended up recording most of his new album, Tiki, in Brazil, where he has a handy network of musician friends and is familiar with local studios.

However, what Bona is seeking to capture in his music is more an atmosphere than an actual place. "Richard's music goes way beyond his playing style," comments American trumpet-player Randy Brecker on the DVD African Tale. "When he touches an instrument, he actually makes it sing!" says French singer Jacques Higelin (whom Bona has accompanied in the past), in open admiration. But the final word goes to Bona's sax-playing compatriot Manu Dibango who declares that Richard Bona is "inhabited by music." "He could have ended up playing piano or guitar and it would still have been the same!" Somehow you don't doubt that analysis for a moment!

Richard Bona Tiki (Emarcy / Universal Music France) 2005
In concert at the Olympia, Paris, 19 December 2005

Bertrand  Lavaine