Born in Cameroon in 1967, Richard Bona soon became a great admirer of Jaco Pastorius - the most praised jazz bass player ever - before he decided to journey into the wide world in 1989. After traveling in Europe extensively, he settled in New York in 1995, where his debut album was released in 1999. But already in 1997 he was to perform at the North Sea Jazz Festival, thanks to keyboard virtuoso and talent scout Joe Zawinul, who introduced the bassist cum vocalist as the star player of his Syndicate. Since that first time, Bona has visited North Sea Jazz five times; sometimes as a soloist, sometimes as a band member. And this year he will score again, this time with his fifth studio album: The Ten Shades of Blues. Bona, who is also a gifted composer and showman, likes starting something new every so often.
