Track Listing

1. Please Don't Stop
2. Dipama
3. Tiki
4. Kivu
5. O Beta O Siba
6. Esoka Bulu (Nigth Whisper)
7. O Sen Sen Sen
8. Manyaka O Brazil
9. Three Women
10. Ba Senge
11. Ida Bato (Ancient song 1789)
12. Akwa Samba Yaya
13. Calçadao de Copacabana
14. Samaouma
15. Nu Sango

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84465 in Music
• Released on: 2006-08-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
Dubbed 'The African Sting,' Richard Bona expands his wings and soars with his fourth solo album and Decca debut 'Tiki' showing he is a true 'triple threat' in the music world. The bassist-vocalist-composer maintains his universal appeal by using a crossbreed effect on his new album by combining African influences (afro-beat and traditional song) with Latin rhythms, jazz, bossa nova, pop and funk. A complete artist in his own right, Richard Bona is a member of a very small circle of the world's best bass players. With his new album, the multi-instrumentalist not only shows off his masterful bass playing and rich vocals; but, he also takes his hand on the guitar, keyboards and percussion. Adding to the already amazing album, multiple Grammyr-winner John Legend appears on 'Please Don't Stop'. Born in the village of Minta in East Cameroon, Richard Bona grew up in a home filled with music. At the tender age of five, he started performing in public singing in the village church with his mother and four sisters. After moving from Cameroon to Paris and finally to New York in 1995, Bona became one of the most in-demand collaborators on the international Jazz scene, working with a remarkable array of artists, such as Paul Simon, Harry Belafonte, Chaka Khan, Queen Latifah, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Salif Keita, Kazumi, Branford Marsalis, David Sanborn, Regina Carter, Bobby McFerrin and Randy Brecker to name a few.

Amazon.com
For his fourth solo album, the Cameroon-born bassist/multi-instrumentalist/singer-composer extraordinaire has assembled a crew of seasoned players from various walks of life. These range from Americans like jazz guitarist Mike Stern and triple-Grammy-winning neo-R&B star John Legend to stars from the international firmament, such as guitarist Toninho Horta (ex-Milton Nascimento) and singer-composer Djavan from Brazil and Susheela Raman, a UK-based chanteuse/torch goddess who employs Indian and other influences in her work. The resulting 15 tracks, while certainly incorporating a mélange of influences and couched in decidedly mainstream, soft-jazz production values, nonetheless neatly evade the dreaded "F word" (fusion) -- a term used as a pejorative by certain diehard world music mavens. Known as the "African Sting," Bona comes across as a sunny, soft-spoken presence, with a gently mellifluous tenor, wicked chops and an undeniable ear for a hook. Deferential yet assertive, rootsy yet cosmopolitan, he pursues the African Diaspora to South America, the Caribbean and the USA, blending each local sound with lessons gleaned from his own cultural birthright and later travels. --Christina Roden

About the Artist
From the moment of Bona's birth, music has been the center of his world. The grandson of a famous percussionist and singer, Bona was born in 1967 in Minta, a village in central Cameroon. Perched on the plateau of Adamaoua, Minta lies between the small shrubs of the Savannah and the virgin forest. Beginning with the music his mother and four sisters sang in church every Sunday, Bona gained an early passion for sounds and harmony. He joined the choir at age 5, and soon Bona's family realized they had a musical prodigy among them. Richard has a highly unusual gift -- he only has to look intently at someone playing, and he can learn the instrument. Not blessed with traditional instruments, Bona found creative ways of making instruments for himself, including reed flutes, a large balafon, wooden percussion instruments and a 12-string guitar. At age 11, Bona went with his father to Douala, sea-port city with nearly 2 million residents. Bona quickly found his first job, as a guitarist with a dance group. In 1980, the French owner of a local club gave him the task of setting up a small, jazz-inspired group (with soul-jazz and jazz-rock leanings). Meanwhile, he entrusted Bona with a collection of some 500 vinyl albums. Through these albums, Bona discovered the essence of jazz -- the freedom, complexity and virtuosity of the music invented by the American descendants of his forebears. In 1989, when Bona was 22, he left Africa for Paris, where he quickly built a solid reputation. He played with Didier Lockwood, Marc Fosset and André Ceccarelli, and took part in studio sessions with leading musicians such as Manu Dibango, Salif Keita and Joe Zawinul (My People, 1992.) In 1995, Bona followed the footsteps of singer Angélique Kidjo, whom he also accompanied, by crossing the ocean and settling in New York. He quickly hooked up with Zawinul again, and he was invited to accompany Zawinul on a world tour. Throughout his amazing musical journey, Bona has absorbed the spirit and the rhythms of the places he has visited. Fortunately for the listener, Bona has the talent to blend these discoveries into a musical masterpiece. Music lovers wishing to discover the world do not need to purchase a plane ticket, surf the Internet, or even watch an international newscast. All they need is a copy of Tiki, and Bona will be their musical tour guide on a visit to the corners of the globe, to explore the people and the soul of many nations.

Customer Reviews

"Tour around the world - Rough Guide with Richard Bona" !
With roots in Cameroon, now living in New York City, Richard Bona has gained a reputation over the last decade for his musicianship and songs.
"Tiki " combines pop and jazz with a few African sensibilities, in other words embracing the music he listened to from afar and adding some home cooked flavor. The end result is a sound that will please fans of Paul Simon, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, and Trilok Gurtu.
"Tiki" sounds as if one was to go on a tour around the world, a "Rough Guide with Richard Bona" if you will.
"Esoka Bulu (Night Whisper)" has him entering a jazz lounge, where the evening is cool and so is the musicianship, kind of a Herbie Hancock-meets-Michael Franks hanging out with Seu Jorge.
The Brazilian influence, or I should say the African influence to Brazilian music, surfaces clearly in "O Sen Sen Sen" and "Manyaka O Brazil".
Being a bassist, Bona gets to honor one of the musicians whose music people continue to celebrate, the late Jaco Pastorius. Bona covers "Three Women" with the help of a double quartet of classical musicians, and the chilling effect brings the song to another level. He gets into some laid back funk in "Ba Senge", then reaches out to soul fans with "Please Don't Stop", a duet with singer John Legend. Legend
is able to add his finesse and style here, and when Bona himself answers back during the chorus, it is a musical exchange one wishes would happen more often in today's pop music.
Singers from Africa rarely get the kind of recognition in the Western world they fully deserve, and language can be an unfortunate barrier.
A foreign song has to be a novelty in order to be treated seriously, which in itself is funny.
Richard Bona is a first class artist with incredible music, regardless of the language, and "Tiki "works as a album to chill out to on a Friday evening after work, a romantic situation on an early Saturday morning, or simply an album to play when you want to hear real musicianship from an artist worth supporting.

A Solid Bona album
I'm just going through this CD for the first time but my take is: more of the same.
That is, once you get past the opening track, which was obviously Bona's bid at getting airplay. He shres the vocal duties on this track with someone who sings in english-it's in a funky smooth jazz vein and in all honesty it's a pretty weak effort. Thankfully, from there the album goes uphill, comparing well with my personal favorite, Reverence and his two other solo efforts. It's more of the same, but in Bona's case, more of the same turns out to be not too bad a thing.

Bona seems to have a formula-each record is a potpourri: a little afro pop, a little funk, a little folk and a bit of jazz, the inevitable sweet ballad and yes, the obligatory classically influenced string ensemble feature. It's all here, even another snappy cuban influenced number and a taste of his afro roots stuff harkening back to his first release. Even a samba...It may be a formula, but as formulas go, it's a winning one.

This is an album that will please Bona fans, but for those looking for breakthrough sounds and new territory to explore, look elsewhere. This is comfortable, extremely well produced world jazz/pop that fills a room with good vibes and infectous grooves. it may not be a main course, but it's a very tasty snack for the ears.

A later thought: After listening to this CD for a year or so, I will say that it has grown on me. And there are some stunning tracks such as track 14, which really has some innovative stuff going on, combining western classical orchestral elements with african folk grooves-lovely. Didn't mean to sound overly critical- I am a huge fan of this artist!

Leaning towards a produced less organic sound
I've all Richard's albums and been a fan for some time. I bought this album without hesitation, especially after seeing his performance on the Mike Stern Live DVD - check this out if you're into jazz/rock!

Whilst this album is still blessed with the musical gifts that only Richard Bona has, it has leaned towards a more commercial and produced sound and I think it is mixed poorly. Gone is the lovely organic sound that just seeps through you...(Reverence is killer for this). His voice (and other instrumnents) throughout are tilted up in the high frequencies, I find it hard to relax when listening to it. Esoka Bulu demonstrates this aptly and the drum brushes are wafer thin and lack meat to the instrument. The piano sounds like a Casio 100...and I'm sure it wasn't. Calcabro De Copacabana is similar.

Also I think the songs just lack the credibility vs say Reverence which is my fave presently. 'Please Dont Stop' sounds like something that would come off a Victor Wooten album rather than a Richard Bona one. Thankfully this doesn't pervade the album except on the first track although I find Ba Senge heading in vaguely similar territory.

Overall good music generally let down by an ordinary commercial oriented mixing desk and I expect a desite to appeal to a wider mainstream audience...yes the musical message is still there but there's better than this in his previous repertoire as a total experience.