Bass Player: Richard Bona

Cameroon bassist, multi-intrumentalist, singer, composer and all round genius has been called the ‘African Jaco’ and deservedly so. His talents have seen him sharing the stage and studio with Joe Zawinul, Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Kazumi Watanabe and a host of others. His own recordings are more than just bass excess and feature his songs and compositions rather than his bass soloing but there are some moments where his world class bass playing is feaured. One of these is the tune ‘Mbanga Kumba’ from the CD ‘Celebration’. The lick is at 1.25, where the fast ride comes in. A tiny passage in relative terms and transcribed as a means of establishing what was going on. As Bilbo says: ‘When you can play these three bars, give me a shout and I will transcribe another three’.