For those of you who don’t know him, Richard Bona is one of the most admired voices on electric bass today, having played with Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, Bobby McFerrin, and a wide range of stars in the jazz world. He’s also an amazing singer, originally from Cameroon, and now living in NYC for more than 15 years. I’ve had the pleasure to record with him several years ago on my good friend, D. D. Jackson’s record, “Anthem” for the former major label, RCA Victor (an album which also included James Carter and Jack Dejohnette.)
Besides being an amazing pianist, composer, and producer, D.D. Jackson also maintains an excellent regular column called Living Jazz which has been published for years by Downbeat magazine and can b
e found at D.D.’s website: www.ddjackson.com
In the past few years I’ve had the chance to perform with Richard at the Blue Note, Iridium, and on tour with Bill Evans’ Soulgrass band. But this was a real special honor to be invited to play on Richard’s latest album, “Ten Shades of Blue”. On one song I contributed bluegrass-esque colors and textures, and on another song I contributed a 20-piece string section. Check out the recent review of the album on All About Jazz here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34649