Over the years the busiest sideman of the jazz/fusion scene, Richard Bona, has luckily had a little time left to record his own music. The fusion drenched world jazz of Bona is special, as he proves on his third album Munia. The power of Bona’s music lies in its origin. The troubadour from Cameroon sings in his mother tongue Douala and knows how to enchant us with his ethereal compositions. Although the words cannot be understood, the sounds and shapes hit the listener in the heart. Also the self-made multi-instrumentalist/ singer Bona knows as no other how to shape his songs in a delicate way. The songs are well-crafted, varied and the soft, the dreamy African vocals burst with beautiful sounds. But his true virtuosity can be found in his bass playing. That’s why he toured with Joe Zawinul, functioned as musical director for Harry Belafonte and played with the Brecker Brothers and the Pat Metheny Electric Group.
