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| | Arts Calendar / October 8 / Concerts |
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20:00 | The Richard Bona Quintet (Cameroon) |
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 Richard Bona has overcome obstacles of poverty, remoteness, family pressure, misfortune, and cultural divide to become a genre-busting musical artist at home in the greatest cities and theatres of the world. But it wasn't money, connections, or good luck that opened all these doors. Rather, at every turn, it was Bona's outsized musicianship and fierce determination to pursue his singular artistic vision. Today, Bona is a bass player, composer, bandleader, one-of-a-kind singer songwriter, and self-producing digital and analog engineer. Behind these achievements lies a storybook life. Born in a Cameroonian village in 1967, Bona took up the wooden-slatted balafon at age five. At eleven, he moved to the capital Douala, where he became an in-demand dance band guitarist before discovering, and quickly mastering, the language of jazz - at just fourteen. Bona moved to Paris in 1989, and New York in 1995, establishing in these two cities a reputation as one of the most exciting jazz bass players on the planet. And all this before he began his solo recording career with Scenes from My Life in 1999. That career now culminates in Bona's 8th solo album, Bonafied, a mostly acoustic, multi-genre set of songs full of personal stories, tributes, philosophy based in lifelong love of nature, and a spirit of musical adventurism that just won't quit. As a baby, Bona cried a river of tears, and the family soon discovered that the one thing that calmed this "intense" kid down was music - specifically playing balafon in his grandfather's traditional music band. Bona credits his grandfather with setting his course in life. "The man never traveled," recalls Bona. "He never got out of his village, but everything he told me, still today, is happening. It's amazing. He told me about integration, about tolerance - all these things just through stories. He was my friend, and he taught me the basics in music. Look, a five-year-old kid playing with people who are already 70, 80 years-old. You already jumped a lot; you're talking history here." Pretty soon, Bona knew he would become a musician. For all the musical ground he has traversed since, Bona says, "I'm thinking balafon, still today." No doubt that's one reason his idiosyncratic art remains a puzzlement to critics hung up on genre. "Any bass player who sees me play knows I play something else. The technique I use, it's everything combined. It looks almost awkward. The way I move, it's not a bass-playing move. Is it wrong? I don't know." Bona performed with Doala's most popular musicians of the day, including Messi Martin, "king of bikutsi." Bona's life changed once again when a Frenchman, remembered only as Christian, invited him to play jazz at a new nightclub. Bona's response: "What's jazz?" When Christian offered $20 a night, for gigs that would end at the civilized hour of 2AM, Bona pounced: "I told him, I don't care if this is a military music. I will play this music." From there follows the legendary tale of Bona's encounter with the Frenchman's 500-LP jazz collection. Four months later, Bona was a regular at Christian's club, and embarking on a whole new path in life. In 1989 Bona set out for Paris, another uncharted world. Everything Parisian came as a shock: the cold, the crowds of unfriendly white people, new ways of doing everything. Two weeks in, Bona's European adventure nearly died in the cradle when his bass was stolen on the subway. Living in a hotel, with no means of support, he saw no option but to head back to Douala. Then, just as all was lost, a bandleader heard Bona wishfully trying out a bass in a music store and offered him a regular gig playing top 40 songs in Marseille. After seven months in Marseille, Bona poured his heart out to the bandleader, thanking him and announcing his decision to return to Paris. However, it turned out this was a "mafia band," and Bona's honesty was greeted with dire threats and an order to stay put. A month later, Bona slipped away without a word to anyone, returning to Paris much the wiser. Soon, word began to spread in about this amazing young African bass player in Paris. Before long, Bona was rubbing shoulders with African stars - Manu Dibangu and Salif Keita - and jazz luminaries, from Didier Lockwood and Marc Fosset to the Brecker Brothers, Mike Stern, and Joe Zawinul. Zawinul first heard Bona on a demo tape, and was confident enough to hire him for a Paris gig - sight unseen, no rehearsal. American jazz luminaries, including Zawinul, urged Bona to come to New York. The idea percolated for a few years, and in 1995, he made the move and quickly began making waves in that city's music circles. When Harry Belafonte called, Bona didn't know who he was. Following a comically awkward opening dance, Bona found himself artistic director for Belafonte's band, a post he held for nearly two years - both an honor and an education. When Bona recorded his first album, Scenes From My Life (Columbia, 1999), fans of his gigs were surprised to hear a subtle, nuanced set of songs interweaving African rhythm, language, and melody with tales of his improbable youth. Perhaps, they had expected a showboating jazz bass exercise, but Bona would never be limited to that. He humored journalists with the idea that he might one day get around to "a bass record," but eight albums later, he's defined a personal voice and art form that could never conform to such a limited idea. Bona believes his African youth continues to define his worldly musical path. Bona speaks four of Cameroon's 24 major languages (Bambili, Pongo, Douala, and Bassa), in addition to French, English and bits of other tongues. No surprise that his own musical vocabulary has become so dazzlingly expansive. The songs on Bonafied brazenly reference Latin jazz, tango, African pop, and even Parisian cabaret ambiance. For all the musical richness in these songs, the stories and messages in their Douala lyrics are equally impressive. For all he has ventured and evolved, Bona has never lost essence of that five-year-old boy, striking his first note on a balafon, and releasing the stories of the world. More info
MMDM Svetlanov Hall  |
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19:00 | Yefrem Podgaits' Anniversary Concert |
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Anniversary concert of the Russian composer Yefrem Podgaits. Performers: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Anna Aglatova (soprano), Mark Bushkov (violin, Belgium), Alexander Buzlov (cello), Svyatoslav Lips (piano), the Spring Children Choir. Conducted by Yevgeny Bushkov. The program includes Podgaits' Threefold concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra, concerto for oOrchestra "Formulas", cantate for soprano, children's choir and orchestra "How to draw a bird" on Jacques Prevert's verses. Efrem Podgaits has composed more than 240 works in different genres (13 operas, 4 musicals, a ballet, and a number of pieces for symphony and chamber orchestra, choir and solo singers as well as music for cinema and theatre). His compositions are widely performed and have been recorded in Russia, Ukraine, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Hungary, Japan, Switzerland, Croatia and USA. He places equal importance on his music for children and is considered to be one of the most versatile and outstanding contemporary Russian composers. In 2002 the Russian monthly Musical Review named him Composer of the Year. His music has been performed by world renowned artists including Mstislav Rostropovich, Yuri Bashmet, Lubov Kazarnovskaya, Friedrich Lips, Alexsnder Gindin, and many others. Efrem Podgaits is a professor at the Ippolitov-Ivanov Moscow State Musical College, where he chairs the Department of Composition. Member of the Russian Union of Composers, member of the Boad of the Moscow Union of Composers, was awarded the title of Merited Propagator of the Arts of Russia.
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall |
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