Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Richard Bona was born Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo on October 28, 1967 in Minta, Cameroon. His family of musicians enabled him to start learning music from a young age. His grandfather was a griot and percussionist, as his mother was a singer. When he was four years old he started playing the balafon. At five he began performing at his village church, however, not being wealthy, he made many of his own instruments, flutes and guitars.
He began learning to play the guitar at the age of 11, and in 1980 at 13 he assembled his first ensemble for a French jazz club in Douala, Cameroon. The owner befriended him and helped him discover jazz starting with Jaco Pastorius, which inspired Bona to switch his focus to the electric bass.
Emigrating to Germany at the age of 22 he studied music in Düsseldorf, soon relocating to France, where he furthered his studies in music. While in France, he regularly played in various jazz clubs, sometimes with players such as Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Jacques Higelin and Didier Lockwood.
He left France and established himself in New York City, playing bass guitar with Joe Zawinul, Larry Coryell, Michael and Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, George Benson, Branford Marsalis, Chaka Khan, Bobby McFerrin, and Steve Gadd, among others. In 1998, Bona was the Musical Director on Harry Belafonte’s European Tour.
His debut solo album, Scenes from My Life, was released in 1999. He has also been prominently featured in Jaco Pastorius Big Band albums. As an educator he held a professorship of jazz music at New York University. For five years beginning in 2015 he owned with restaurateur Laurent d’Antonio, the jazz club Club Bonafide in the city.
Bass guitarist, guitarist, percussionist and vocalist Richard Bona continues to compose, record and perform.
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LONGINEU PARSONS ENSEMBLE
Unity Jazz presents trumpeter Longineu Parsons and his Ensemble featuring pianist Nat Adderley Jr. with special guest vocalist Myrna Clayton.
The career of Longineu Parsons, with its many musical pieces and parts, serves as a metaphor for what he calls “the disorder of the human tribe.” The whole of Longineu Parsons is greater than the sum of his parts, and he has made it his mission – and the mission of his own Tribal Disorder Records – to use music as “a force against disorder in the human tribe.”
In his own life and career, this “disorder” has come in the form of widely diverse musical passions and pursuits. Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, Parsons instinctively plays the blues as a native language. After cutting his teeth playing hometown gigs starting in junior high, he toured on the Chitlin Circuit for a few years before attending Florida A&M University for his undergraduate degree.
There, two pivotal experiences would help set his course. The first was that he heard the John Coltrane album “Expression” – it opened his ears and changed his life. Though he was already into Miles Davis and “Bitches Brew,” something was different about this. Secondly, he met the famous trumpeter (and FAMU alum) Nat Adderley. Nat took Longineu under his wing and over time, mentor and protégé became lifelong friends. Longineu is honored to play Nat’s cornet as his main horn.
Tickets: $50.00 | CashApp: $UnityJazz / Zelle: 7708991991
Free Parking
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SARAH VAUGHAN: A SASSY CENTENNIAL
Featuring Patti Austin, Randy Brecker, Lisa Fischer and 2023 Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition Winner Tyreek McDole with Shelly Berg and the Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra and its resident conductor, Scott Flavin
This celebration of the versatile and widely influential jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, whose nicknames included Sassy and the Divine Sarah, will find talented admirers performing her music in front of a full orchestra. “Among the singers of her generation, only Ella Fitzgerald enjoyed comparable stature,” The New York Times wrote of Vaughan, whose hits included “It’s Magic,” “What Lola Wants” and “Make Yourself Comfortable.”
Tickets: $40.00 ~ $130.00
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SINNE EEG & TIVOLI BIG BAND
A Tribute to Tivoli’s Jazz History with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan
Tivoli’s Big Band and Sinne Eeg celebrate Tivoli’s rich jazz history and pay tribute to three of jazz’s greatest artists who performed regularly on Tivoli’s stages in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald visited the Tivoli numerous times over those three decades, and another of jazz’s greatest voices, Sarah Vaughan, recorded her personal masterpiece, “Sassy Swings The Tivoli,” in 1963, with none other than Quincy Jones as producer.
Tivoli’s Big Band and Sinne Eeg delve into the rich repertoire from Ella Fitzgerald’s “Duke Ellington Songbook” album and recreate for the first time a handful of the titles from “Sassy Swings The Tivoli” in newly written big band arrangements. Inspired by how Quincy Jones might have written them, these arrangements are created by Tivoli’s Grammy-nominated bandmaster and house arranger Peter Jensen.
DKK 195.00 ($28.21) ~ DKK 325.00 ($47.02) Includes ticket fee and entrance to Tivoli Gardens.
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JIVA
The Sous Vide Trio opens the night of great music with a 30 minute set. This will be followed with the headliner consisting of the 10-piece Soul band JIVA returns with an amazing performance. They will be performing their unique blend of upbeat soul and Brazilian-inspired songs.
Cleveland Jones, Lavahi and Chanda Leigh will be the singers on the show.
Cover Charge: $20.00 Adv | $25.00 at Door
Doors @ 7:30pm | Show @ 8:00pm
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