Dan South Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Fodera 5-string Epifani speaker enclosures Some sort of pedalboard (I didn't get a close look at it) The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 That Fodera made a trip to BALCO labs at some point. It was definitely on steriods. It had a built-in Roland V-Bass pickup with the Roland controls mounted from the back just like the typical volume/tone pots. The pedalboard was probably the Roland synth engine and maybe a volume pedal. Also, there seemed to be a fat, black humbucker sandwiched between 2 J style pickups. At first I thought it was a ramp, but it looked more like a pickup cover. Let's just say that the player's talent curbed much of my thinking about what gear was being used. That was true for the keyboard player, too. The time I saw Bona w/Metheny, he played a much simpler Pensa J Bass and killed. Bona can probably make an hour of brilliant music with just his voice and pair of claves. OK, now that it's T-minus-1 minute until Richard Bona opens a 55 gallon drum of Whup-ass on poor, unsuspecting Willie and Ben, I'll mention some things about the set Dan & I saw. The opener was a Weather Report/Jaco medley: Liberty City, Birdland, Black Market, Word of Mouth, Punk Jazz, and more plus a couple of quotes that went by in a blur. I told Dan "You can't see Weather Report anymore, but that was damn close to the real thing." The lead-off tune from "Reverence" followed, and the torrent of brilliant music lasted an hour. Dan nailed it. You go see Richard Bona and you find yourself just grinning from ear to ear uncontrollably for the whole set. The man plays with such pure joy! I'm eager to hear Willie and Ben's account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 22, 2005 Author Share Posted January 22, 2005 I just got home. Oh my. Oh my. Wow. Oh my. Every member of the band was killin'. For real. Etienne Stadjwik (sp?) is fantastic on keys. Steve (?) Torres is a helluva percussionist. Lester Simpson sounds great on the kit and his attentiveness and responsiveness to everything that's going on is remarkable. I didn't catch the sax player's name, but he can blow -- really. Bona was outstanding. What a performer. And, Dan rightly said it, they create an unbelievable vibe and such a positive feel in the room. The energy and enjoyment is contagious. I'll write more after I get some sleep. And the food was good, too. And I had a lovely Brazilian adult beverage -- actually two of them! (They were too expensive, though...) Peace. --s-uu PS: Richard promised a new version of "All Blues" for tomorrow night. I hope someone will make it to the show through all the snow that we're expecting in the NYC metro area! spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 22, 2005 Author Share Posted January 22, 2005 Oh, and there appear to be some other intriguing events on the schedule in Feb. at the Jazz Standard. Two examples -- 2/15: A tribute to Mark Ledford (Randy Brecker, Alex Bugnon, Jim Beard, Carla Cook, Victor Bailey, Lenny White) 2/24-2/27: The Manhattan Quintet (Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Alexander, Gary Bartz, George Mraz, Ben Riley) Peace. --s-uu spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Don't mean to go OT... Originally posted by Dr. Sweet Willie: 2/15: A tribute to Mark LedfordI recently saw this. I didn't even know he was gone. Heart attack last November at age 44. Outstanding multi-instrumentalist and singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 22, 2005 Author Share Posted January 22, 2005 No kidding about Ledford. Shame. That's quite a crew of musicians that will be paying/playing tribute. Back to Bona -- I was seated to the left of the stage. The downside of this was that I couldn't see his hands unless he turned in my direction -- and I wanted to watch his technique. Oh well. I was right behind the percussionist -- that was awesome. Bona's gear -- Fodera, Walter Woods head, two Epifani boxes (I think 1x12s). Roland V-Bass, some other pedals I couldn't really see. Also some kind of separate expression pedal. Parker Fly guitar that stayed on the rack during the set. His joy in playing was truly contagious. I can't say it enough. Definitely the kind of performance that inspires woodshedding (which I did today for a while -- with metronome). Peace. --sweets spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLroomtempJ Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 i hope bona comes back to nyc in the future so that i can be around to see him play. does he have a website with tour dates and locations? If he comes to boston, i should be able to catch him? jason 2cor5:21 Soli Deo Gloria "it's the beauty of a community. it takes a village to raise a[n] [LLroomtempJ]." -robb My YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 Jason - Try www.pollstar.com It's a website for concert performances listed by performer, venue, and/or city. I use it often. It should give you Richard Bona's future performance dates/places, if any. Willie - Did you get the WR/Jaco medley? FYI, he didn't play guitar during my set either. What a voice, huh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenLoy Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 I'll throw in my two cents here. First of all, I accidentally purchased tickets for the 7:30 show instead of the 9:30 show by clicking the wrong button. TicketWeb has a strict "no refunds, no exchanges" policy. Even officially don't get off of work until 8...I manged to skip off an hour early (shhh! don't tell anyone), and my lady friend and I met up for the 7:30 show. Wow. Wow. Wow. Richard Bona is a truly scary freak of nature, ladies and gentlemen. He opened the set with a medley of Jaco and Weather Report tunes that just knocked everyone down from the first note. During his solo he also threw some licks from "Milestones" to make everyone laugh. I laughed. Technique-wise, he's pretty straightforward: two fingers on his right hand for fingerstyle and standard 4-finger left hand technique. He plays with a very light tough...which enables him to get blindingly fast when he wants to. He also did some great stuff with artifical and pinch harmonics. Mostly his brilliance lay in his musicality, though. He did a great unaccomanied solo at the end where he scatted along with his playing that had both of us on the floor with how brilliant he was. He played with harmony so masterfully...wow. Anyway...yeah...it was friggen awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 Amazing, isn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted January 23, 2005 Author Share Posted January 23, 2005 Yes, I got the WR/Jaco medley o' luv. I was truly bummed that I didn't get to share the experience w/ the esteemed Mr. Loy. There will be other opportunities, I'm sure. I am glad to read that you came up w/ a solution to the ticket snafu. I bet we just missed each other during the changeover between sets. Let's face it, this guy's vocals are killer. He could make it as a singer alone -- but to sing as he does and play fantastic bass at the same time. Ay mi, papi!!! Peace. --s-uu spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan South Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 I noticed that he uses a thumb-and-index finger Sting-like technique at times. He also raked across muted strings a lot to add percussive ghost notes to the groove. But the amazing thing is his dexterity. I've never seen anything like it. The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.