by Melanie Wong
Last Friday at SubCulture, I had the privilege of seeing
jazz bassist/singer/composer Richard Bona lead his Afro-Cuban sextet, Mandekan
Cubano—whose welcoming personalities and unparalleled musicianship captured the
audience's ears and hearts from start to finish.
Each of the five superstars that make up Mandekan Cubano
brought something special to the stage: trumpeter Dennis Hernandez and trombonist
Luis Bonilla must be applauded for their out-of-this-world chops; Osmany
Parades for his wicked piano solos; and cousins Luisito and Robert Quintero for
their unwavering grooves and wild conga playing. Even in the second set of the
night, the group was full of life, and their endless energy was contagious,
simultaneously feeding the music and the audience.
Bona, a self-taught multilingual musician, doesn’t sound
like any bassist you’ve ever heard before—an effect that stems from his
Cameroonian upbringing, where he began playing balafon in his grandfather's
local band at five years old. His personal philosophy about what it means to be
a musician is that, “when you’re a musician, you entertain people. You make
them dance. You tell jokes. You sing. The whole combo.” And that’s exactly what
he did.
Bona's unique sound mixes West African and Cuban musical styles, as
well as a multitude of vocal styles and languages (e.g. traditional African
folksong interweaved with scatting). A natural jokester, Bona's relentless
stage antics kept the audience laughing throughout the show. In fact, one of
his most fascinating talents proved to be his on-the-spot
incorporation of disruptive sounds into the show itself—such as the pager that
began beeping incessantly during his extended solo (yes, apparently people
still own those), as well as the plastic cups that tumbled noisily to the ground during
a quiet moment of his encore—using these as tools to enhance the aural
experience, rather than detract from it.
Ninety minutes into the evening, the show's close felt
like it came much too soon; no one wanted to stop clapping, singing, and
bopping along, but alas, after a rapturous applause for Bona and his crew, it
was time to go. The only thing more I could have wished for the evening was
that SubCulture had whipped back their amazing retractable chairs in favor of a
dance floor. Maybe next time.