Customer Reviews

Scenes From My Life

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I agree totally with a previous review. I saw Richard Bona last week at Jazz Alley in Seattle. He was FANTASTIC! Great rythms, angelic voice, wonderful bass lines, and a great backup band. Bought the CD at the bar, took it home and was a little disappointed at the overdone pop styling. I wish I had a recording of his live show. It was so much better than the disk.

But the disk still has a lot of great music, interesting African rythms, and that voice! I hope the next one will be a little closer to the real musician.

Check out Richard Bona's music on a cut called "Mandingo Street" on Regina Carter's latest CD. The best song on a great disk.

I have just finished listening to Richard Bona's Scenes From My Life. Actually it was the fourth time for the day that I had listen to this cd back to back. One of the first things that I noticed about this Album (apart from the fact that the lyrics are not in English) is the cool fresh difference of Richard's voice, no two ways about it Mr.Bona can definetly sing. Even though I can't understand a word being sung, I love smooth and easy way his word and melodies gel and how it all flows.

Track one Depita, a lively number yet not too up tempo, with Bona's cool clear crisp voice over an infectious rythm. All the way through to the final track Messanga, which showcases Richard's talents as a percussionist, you can expect to hear a warm soulful voice, a vriety of West African rythms fused with rich melodies and of course some very fine playing by Richard Bona and others. Track five , a funky track, with Bona playing a really funky bass grove. Track six is a latin flavoured number with some great licks by percussionist Luisito Quintero. Adding to the variety are track seven, One Minute and track eight Muna Nyuwe, a melancholy piece about an orphan with strings arranged by Bona.

Scenes From My Life not only hightlights the great vocal talents on Richard Bona but also shows him as talented songwriter / composer / arranger /producer and a very versatile musician playing bass, percussion, guitar, keyboards and kalimba. Richard Bona is a very good bassist. A listen to D.D. Jackson's Anthem will certainly substantiate this.

Richard Bona; A very Talented musician with a loads of potential. Scenes From My Life; a very great effort, love this cd.

Andy

I was struck by Bona's beautiful fusion when I first heard this cd played in my favorite music store. As a collector of West African music, Cuban Son, and jazz, I am struck by Bona's masterful combination of these stylings and his own superb technique. There isn't much out there like him yet. I can't wait to hear his next offering. Highly recommended for both 'world' music and jazz afficionados!

A few years ago, some of my music students from university and I heard the Belafonte Concert performed at Purchase, New York, which was broadcast later on tv. We were so impressed with all the many fine musicians, but most of all with their leader, Richard Bona! Even though we cannot understand the words he sang, the feelings most certainly reached our hearts. We play that tape frequently and it just gets better and better ... we NEVER tire of it! As we travel to work, we often catch ourselves singing "Eyala" and "Eyando", the only words we could get from the TV station.

Mr. Bona's songs are profoundly sophisticated musically and quite poignant! To our ears, he is a genius of the sort that Bach, Beethoven or Brahms must have been. The acid test of a composition is proven when the music only gets better with each performance. This is true of his music. Even many of our friends who are NOT musicians were touched by Mr. Bona's singing and his compositions!

At last, a full program of these treasures from the young man from Cameroon is available, "Scenes From My Life"!

My wife and I first experienced the immense pleasure of Richard Bona's music in 1997 when PBS aired "an Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends". After buying a video we lost count of how many times we've re-played Mr. Bona's two compositions, especially "Eyala".

In 1998, the Zawinul Syndicate's CD of the "World Tour" came out featuring two more of Bona's compositions "Bona Fortuna" and "Caribbean Anecdotes". His compositions and artistry are tremendous.

Particularly fascinating were the program notes he added about the songs. It was the first time an African musician spoke of his culture, especially from Cameroon.

This new recording, "Scenes from my Life", is as spectacular as the two earlier efforts mentioned above and even gives a new setting of "Eyala".

Absolutely magnificent!

Richard Bona has a beautiful voice and it is easy to relax to this wonderful CD. I didn't rate this a 5 because a five is reserved for CD's like Giant Steps or Blue Train. A rating of three doesn't mean I didn't like the CD, it just means that I don't give a CD a rating of 5 haphazardly. Scenes From My Life does have some Sanbornish qualities to it and does get funky at times like in the tune "Djombwe". There are even some Indian ragas and a salsa piece. It doesn't matter that one doesn't understand what is being said, what matters is that the music speaks to you. Check this one out. I don't think you will be disappointed. You only get disappointed when you expect too much from a CD.

Yeah, Bona is far more dynamic in performance, but this album--despite a heavy smooth-jazz greasing--does have at least a couple of shining moments--New Bell and Eyando, in particular. The latter, with its broken Bolobo rhythm (AMAZING drumming), is almost impossibly infectious--WHAT A GROOVE! Bona could be the future of World Jazz if he'd just dump that Kenny G sax and CD 101.9 production. (Dude, remember your homeland!) Buy it for the two tracks. And, who knows? With a set as diverse as this one, you may well find something else that blows your braids back, too!

Just to say in french what everyone said in English.Voici un album a ecouter, a reecouter et a posseder dans sa discotheque. Apres ton passage au Cameroun Richard,tu as oublie de gratifier tes freres au pays de ton album parceq ue tu n'avais pas apporte avec toi des disques.C'est un public et un marche que tu dois conquerir en tant que fils du terroir.Tes freres et soeurs ont soif de cette ballade entrainante et poignante qui rappelle aux exiles que nous sommes l'odeur de la terre ancestrale,le bien etre que l'on a de se sentir sur sa terre natale. Tu es jeune,tu as de la chance d'etre un battant,prends pas la grosse tete et sors rapidement le prochain comme tu l'as annonce et songe a envoyer ta musique chez nous au pays.Du courage cher Frere,

What is Music? The answer to that question is in the Scence from My life CD; Because that is when we will understand music at different levels. From Blues to Funk, from Gospel to Rock, and from Jazz to Soca all on a One CD. Just listen quitely to the sound of "Muna Nyuwe, Konda Djanea" and you will not only hear but you also see Richard Bona's vision to unite the musical world. I think he is going to become one of the greatest musician ever.

This is probably one of the best album of its kind. A fantastic blend of styles. This is the future of music