Customer Reviews

Tiki

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

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Sorry Richard! I have followed you since your beginning. I have been to many of your concerts, but in my oppinion, you are loosing some of your magic in this CD. What is worrying you to continue playing as the great musician you are?

I love this guy's music. Along with people like Vusi Mahlasela and Lokua Kanza, he's one of the great contemporary African vocalists and musicians. This lbum is a bit more mainstreamed/Americanized, but it's still very good.

Cameroonian musician Richard Bona has made quite a winning disc of multi-cultural music tied together by his ebullient singing, creatively layered arrangements and jazz-infused rhythmic chops. He composed all the songs except one, a varied lot, and performs in his native tongue, Douala, which is one of two hundred Cameroonian dialects. He makes music that truly has a world view, but never does he sound contrived due to the consistency in his sound and his production craftsmanship. For instance, there are elements of a strong Brazilian influence, in particular, on the high-energy samba, "Manyaka o Brazil", which manages to make Marc Berthoumieux's accordion sound seductive, and the Ipanema-like "Calçadão de Copacabana".

John Legend joins Bona on the opening track, the loping "Please Don't Stop", which sounds like a throwback to a 1970's-style R&B shuffle especially with Atn Stadwijk's supple horn arrangement. The dream-like "O Beta O Siba" and the jazz-lounge, Vince Guaraldi-like sound of "Esoku Bulu" ("Night Whisper") make nice contrasts to the predominantly rhythmic orientation of the disc. Distinctive African beats are pervasive throughout the title track, which has an effectively sauntering vocal turn by Susheela Raman, and the drum-heavy "Akwa Samba Yaya". "Ba Senge" has a catchy, keyboard-based beat reminiscent of the Doobie Brothers circa 1979, while the Buena Vista Social Club appears to be the inspiration of the percolating "O Sen Sen Sen", which is driven by Osmany Paredes' Havana-style piano playing.

There are a couple of brief lovely acoustic ballads, the piano-oriented "Kivu" and the ending "Nu Sango". A surprisingly moving track is Bona's almost classical-sounding cover of Jaco Pastorius' "Three Women" with a moving string arrangement. Strings play a predominant part in my favorite track, "Samaouma" with its rich multi-cultural sound brought to life by Bona's hypnotic vocals, Pat Metheny-like fret work and lush strings courtesy of the Flux Quartet. The variety of sounds on this recording is quite impressive considering that Bona plays a multitude of instruments on all the songs. His dexterous and fluent ability to open himself up to the global scene will hopefully bring him stateside success.

Like i said before, i own every single album that this guy has publish so for and i have a special admiration for his harmony and diversity. But, even with that being said, i still wonder where i got the inspiration for Akwa Samba Yaya. Is it African, South American, Asian, Caraibean or what..., i just keep listening and listening! Bona of many wonders!!!

Have listened to this album and it does not grab me as quickly as 'Munia ' and 'Reverence' have. It is an incredible offering once you get down to listening to his workmanship as asongwriter/ singer/instrumentalist. Nu Sango speaks ancient sayings and cries to me ... for a 1 minute outro, I just put it on repeat and it carries me away from rush hour traffic.

My contact, the first one, with Richard Bona, was something like "love for ever". All of his music was superb. Fresh, amazing tunes and arregments. The ability taking music from everywhere with out loose his roots. His voice, like an angel, and , Hey man! how does he play the bass!, and always in a humble way, at the service to the music. But this record, and is a pity, is just "nice". No less but no more. more commercial, with out high points. I use it just for background on a good conversation. I still, of course, trust in his talent.

If you want to know the best of this man just try all the previous records, including Toto/Bona/Lokua and the colaboration on Mino Cinelu record (try to find it!).

I got this album just after few days of paying for it.It is great.Is a must have album.Thanks