Bassist, guitarist, singer and songwriter Richard Bona began life as a musically precocious child in a Cameroonian village, but wound up playing bass alongside the likes of Joe Zawinul, Pat Metheny, Bobby McFerrin and Joni Mitchell. His second album reflects this remarkable life in twelve polished, sophisticated compositions that feature his own soothing, multi-tracked vocals, some nifty acoustic guitar picking, and melodious Jaco Pastorious-possessed bass lines, all rolled together in lush, subtle arrangements by Gil Evans protégé Gil Goldstein. The music is intensely controlled, and Bona's starry-eyed spirituality can take him dangerously close to sentimental, easy-listening jazz--staggering musicianship by him and guests like Metheny, Michael Brecker, and drummer Vinny Colaiuta save the day.

At moments, Bona's African background emerges in the music: a brief 6/8 percussion jam slipped in at the close of "Te Misea" (A Scream to Save the Planet), or Bona's energetic polyrhythmic guitar work on "Laka Mba" (Plea for Forgiveness/ With the Pride of Lions). Elsewhere, his pop-jazz swoon is so powerful that only the unfamiliar language gives him away. Intriguingly, Africa is far more present in Bona's lyrics, which may deal with arranged marriages, or the wisdom of a village chief. Bona is an original, practically the only African musician to earn a place in the jazz mainstream.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre