LIVE REVIEW Richard Bona in Australia

Sunday November 21, 2010

Singer and bassist Richard Bona has it all at his fingertips: jazz, blues, funk, fusion, bossa nova, Caribbean rhythms and the African beats of his native Cameroon. On this, his first, visit to Australia, Bona wooed and won his Melbourne audience with a perfectly paced performance, segueing between musical styles and guiding his band from angelic melodies to killer grooves and much uncharted territory in between.

The music pours out of this man. Bona’s five-stringed bass is so much part of him that even when he takes it off to sing acapella, his hands shape chords and finger invisible strings. And singing is second nature to him, rooted in the traditions of his family. He favours the higher registers, in a delicate African falsetto that thrills and resonates. One of the highlights of the show was his solo vocal number where he sang harmonies, looping them with one of his many foot pedals.

No electric bassist since Jaco Pastorius (one of Bona’s many influences) has sounded so smooth and melodic. And Bona is not just an instrumentalist: he is leading the band and singing at the same time. Mostly the songs act as counterpoint to the bass lines, but on some of his most energetic bass passages he will scat along, having fun with his instrument and with his audience. Bona is a cheeky showman and a born storyteller, ready to spin a yarn, tell a joke or play a trick on us.

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African Cowboy	5:07	Richard Bona
Good Times	4:34	Richard Bona

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