Gerald Toto, Lokua Kanza and Richard Bona prefer to call their cooperation a "no format" project. A trio with an unusual line-up, consisting of two singer-guitarists and one singing bass player could go any which way, musically speaking. The trio came together because of a longing to play together, have fun and learn from each other along the way. Other than that, the only adhesive factor within this group is spontaneity. In 2004 producer Laurent Bizot put three different cultures in one studio; all tracks came into being spontaneously. Musical traditions from Cameroon (Bona), Congo (Kanza) and Martinique (Toto) melted together in the CD Toto Bona Lokua, an album that was called the surprise of the year. The beauty of the three voices - varying from the angelic to the emotional - was compared by many critics with the art of Bobby McFerrin, the voice artist who is this year's "Artist in Residence" at the festival.
