Biography

Richard Bona (born 28 October 1967 in Minta, Cameroon) is a virtuoso Cameroonian Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist. Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo was born in Minta, Cameroon, into a family of musicians, which enabled him to start learning music from a young age. His grandfather was a griot – a West African singer of praise and storyteller – and percussionist, as his mother was a singer. When he was four years old, Bona started to play the balafon. At the age of five, he began performing at his village church.