Actor

Richard Bona

Filmography

Richard Bona — Biography, Age, Origin & Discography

Richard Bona, born Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo, is a Cameroonian-American bassist, singer and composer, born on October 28, 1967, in Minta, in Cameroon’s Centre Region. Widely regarded as one of the greatest bassists alive, he moves fluidly between jazz fusion, world music, and Afro-Cuban sounds.

Identity Card



Field	Information
Stage name	Richard Bona
Real name (civil status)	Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo
Date of birth	October 28, 1967
Age	58 (as of 2026)
Place of birth	Minta, Haute-Sanaga department, Centre Region, Cameroon
Country / Nationality	Cameroonian and American (dual national); also holds Portuguese nationality
Region of origin	Haute-Sanaga, Centre Region, Cameroon
Genre	Jazz fusion, world music, ethno-jazz, funk, Afro-Cuban music
Instruments	Bass (fretless and 6-string), guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Years active	Since the early 1980s (local beginnings); international solo career since 1999
Label(s)	Columbia, Sony, Verve, Decca, GRP, Universal, plus his own imprint Bonayuma Publishing Management
First solo album	Scenes From My Life (Columbia, 1999)
Residence	New York, USA (since 1995)
Major distinction	Grammy Award (2002, with the Pat Metheny Group); Victoires du Jazz (2004); Sacem Grand Prix Jazz (2012)

Biography

A child prodigy born into a family of griots

Some artists learn music. Richard Bona seems to have been born inside it. Rewind to Minta, a small village in eastern-central Cameroon, in 1967: that’s where Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo came into the world, in a family where music wasn’t a hobby but an inherited certainty, passed down through generations. His grandfather was a griot and percussionist; his mother was a singer — meaning young Richard essentially grew up with rhythm as his lullaby.

There’s a story that turns up in nearly every account of his life, and it’s worth telling because it’s so wonderfully cinematic: according to his family, little Richard was a fussy, tearful child — until the sound of the balafon calmed him down. Noticing this, his grandfather gave him one when he was just four years old. A year later, at barely five, he was already performing — on the stage of his village church, Sainte-Croix parish in Minta, alongside his mother and his four sisters. His talent quickly turned heads, and he was soon in demand for baptisms, weddings and ceremonies across the region.

And as is so often the case with great African self-taught musicians, resourcefulness became its own school. Coming from a modest background, young Richard built his own instruments — flutes and guitars carved from tortoise shells, and a twelve-string guitar cobbled together from… bicycle brake cables lifted from a cycle shop. You don’t become a virtuoso without a bit of creative ingenuity, and clearly, Bona had plenty to spare.

Douala, jazz, and a decisive encounter

Next stop: Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital, where the teenager set cabarets dancing and happily skipped school to jam with seasoned musicians like Jean Dikoto, Vicky Edimo and Messi Martin. It was during these electric nights that he discovered the bass guitar — and had an irreversible epiphany: listening to Jaco Pastorius, young Richard understood, instantly and completely, that this instrument was going to be his.

In 1980, life handed him a golden opportunity: a Frenchman who ran a jazz club in Douala asked him to put together a jazz band from scratch. The catch: Richard Bona knew absolutely nothing about jazz. No matter — it wasn’t the pay that motivated him, it was a gut-level hunger to learn. He rose to the challenge, and that’s how, almost by accident, one of the greatest jazz bassists of his generation was born.

Europe, disillusionment, and the New York springboard

At 22, Bona left Cameroon for Europe. First a stop at the Düsseldorf conservatory in Germany, then a move to France, where he continued his musical studies at the Versailles conservatory. In Parisian jazz clubs, he crossed paths with heavyweights like Didier Lockwood, Jacques Higelin, and even Manu Dibango — no small names, those. But Parisian life proved harder than expected: in 1995, without stable employment, Richard Bona was deported from France.

What could have been a tragic ending instead became a dazzling new beginning. Bona flew to New York, where nothing less than global recognition awaited him. The cosmopolitan city, ever grateful to exceptional talent, welcomed him with open arms. He racked up gigs in jazz clubs, where he caught the attention of Jake Holmes, who hired him as musical director for the shows of the towering Harry Belafonte. It was the springboard that opened every door that followed.

A career paved with legends

From that encounter flowed dozens of collaborations that still take your breath away: Joe Zawinul (whose Zawinul Syndicate he joined), Pat Metheny (with whom he toured the world and won a Grammy Award in 2002 for the album Speaking of Now), Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Michael and Randy Brecker, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Bobby McFerrin, Quincy Jones, Salif Keïta, Cesária Évora, George Benson, Chucho Valdés, Mike Stern, and even the legendary Buena Vista Social Club. A dizzying list that makes Richard Bona one of the very few African instrumentalists to have established himself so durably at the very top of the global jazz scene.

His solo career officially took off in 1999 with the album Scenes From My Life (Columbia), a record that already laid out his signature sound: a subtle marriage of African rhythms, jazz, and pop. Kaze Ga Kureta Melody followed in 2000, then Reverence in 2001, recorded alongside Pat Metheny and Michael Brecker themselves. In 2003, Munia: The Tale featured guest vocals from the great Salif Keïta on two tracks — a meeting of two African legends from different generations and musical continents.

In May 2004, he won the Victoires du Jazz award for “Best International Artist of the Year.” The following year, 2005, saw the release of Tiki, recorded in Brazil with contributions from singer Djavan and Indian vocalist Susheela Raman — an album that earned him a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Contemporary World Music Album.” That same year also gave birth to the Toto Bona Lokua project, an Afro-Caribbean trio formed with Martinican artist Gerald Toto and Congolese artist Lokua Kanza — a gathering of three voices, three cultures, and one shared musical soul.

What came next? A rich, ever-evolving discography: Bona Makes You Sweat (2008, recorded live), The Ten Shades of Blues (2009), the acoustic album Bonafied (2013, featuring a notable duet with French singer Camille), and Heritage (2016), a deep dive into his Afro-Cuban roots with the Mandekan Cubano ensemble. In 2012, Richard Bona received the prestigious Sacem Grand Prix Jazz, the ultimate recognition for an artist who has made cultural fusion his absolute signature.

A world ambassador, forever connected to Cameroon

What stands out about Richard Bona, beyond his extraordinary technical virtuosity, is his deep-rooted loyalty to his origins. Despite a career that has taken him to just about every major stage on the planet, he has never cut the cord with Cameroon: he returns regularly, supports local musicians, and invests in community projects there. In March 2018, he even opened a club-restaurant. He has also taught jazz improvisation at New York University (NYU), passing on, in turn, what he himself learned the hard way — through ingenuity and resilience in a village in eastern Cameroon.

Asked about his life philosophy, the man describes himself as an “ambassador of the world, and also a student of the world” — a phrase that perfectly captures the insatiable curiosity that carried him from a small village called Minta all the way to becoming one of the most respected and most sampled African musicians on the global jazz stage.

Discography (solo albums)

Scenes From My Life (Columbia, 1999)
Kaze Ga Kureta Melody (Sony, 2000)
Reverence (Columbia Europe, 2001)
Munia: The Tale (Verve, 2003)
Tiki (2005)
Toto Bona Lokua (with Gerald Toto and Lokua Kanza, Sunnyside, 2005)
Kiki (Decca, 2006)
Bona Makes You Sweat (Decca, 2008 — live)
The Ten Shades of Blues (Decca, 2009)
Bonafied (2013)
Heritage (2016, with Mandekan Cubano)
Baila, Niña (single, 2025)

Awards and honors

Grammy Award (2002) — Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for Speaking of Now with the Pat Metheny Group
Victoires du Jazz (2004) — Best International Artist of the Year
Grammy Award nomination (2006) — Tiki, Best Contemporary World Music Album
Antonio Carlos Jobim Award (2009) — Montreal International Jazz Festival
Sacem Grand Prix Jazz (2012)

FAQ

How old is Richard Bona? Born on October 28, 1967, Richard Bona is 58 years old as of 2026.

What is Richard Bona’s real name? His birth name is Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo.

Which artists inspired Richard Bona, or does he admire? His defining spark came from Jaco Pastorius, whose bass playing converted him permanently to the instrument. He also cites his griot grandfather and singer mother as his very first influences. Throughout his career, he has worked alongside major figures including Joe Zawinul, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Salif Keïta, Manu Dibango, Chick Corea, and Quincy Jones.

What region is Richard Bona from? He was born in Minta, in the Haute-Sanaga department, Centre Region of Cameroon.

What is Richard Bona’s musical style? His sound blends jazz fusion, world music, ethno-jazz, funk, and Afro-Cuban music, always rooted in the African rhythms of his childhood.

Has Richard Bona won a Grammy Award? Yes, he won a Grammy Award in 2002 for the album Speaking of Now with the Pat Metheny Group, and was also nominated in 2006 for his own album Tiki.