Richard Bona: vocals, bass, keyboards, guitars, drums, percussion, mandolin, samples; Shankar Mahadevan: vocals; Nandini Srikar: vocals; Vivek Rajgopalan: mridangam, ganjira, konnakol; Satyajit Talwalkar: tabla, konnakol; Niladiri Kumar: sitar; Bob Reynolds: saxophone; Michael Rodrigues: trumpet; Marshall Gilkes: trombone; Frank McComb: vocals; Obed Calvaire: drums; Gregoire Maret: harmonica; Sylvain Luc: guitars; Jean-Michel Pilk: piano; Christian Howes: fiddle; Bailo Baa: fula flute; Jojo Kuoh: drums; Ryan Cavanaugh: banjo; Bert Van den Brink: hammond organ

When Richard Bona's new album Ten Shades Of Blues appears this autumn, ten years will have gone by since his first project, Scenes From My Life (released in 1999), a whole decade. In the case of Cameroonian bassist and singer Richard Bona, it's not so easy to condense a decade into just a few short lines because the man is such a multiple character, with many lives impelled by his permanent curiosity and desire to play. And each of these traits lies at the heart of his latest recording to date, an album devoted to the blues and "its key notes that can be recognized in all cultures." So here we have a new album open to all kinds of encounters, a record on which Richard Bona is our guide taking us on a tour with his Indian, country and jazz musicians to the four corners of the earth…

"I like each of my albums to have a theme, a project behind it. This time I chose the blues. I look at the blues from the universal angle: you can find it in Africa, in America and in India. People put a style to it, a style with guitar and vocals. But I see it first as a scale, one that's present in different traditions and expressions in music. Ten Shades Of Blues means ten nuances, ten different ways of playing the blues." So Richard Bona put this new album together in the way that some people prepare a world-trip. "I went to Madras, and Bombay, and Nashville, and New York. Each time, I was playing with guys I'd played with before at some point." How does he define the blues? "A few notes where each one has the strength to reach out and touch you. They're present in all kinds of popular music everywhere in the world, they resound in people's hearts. There's also a particular way to play them and join them together."

TRACK LISTINGS

1. Take One
2. Shiva Mantra (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
3. Good Times (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
4. M’Bemba Mama (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
5. Kurumalete (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
6. Souleymane (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
7. African Cowboy (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
8. Esukudu (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
9. Yara’s Blues (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
10. Sona Moyo
11. Camer Secrets