Richard Bona & Biréli Lagrène in Nice

Richard Bona is a Cameroonian bassist, singer and composer, born in Minta in 1967. He plays jazz shaped by Cameroonian rhythms, funk and Afro-Cuban music, and is known for his agile electric-bass work and vocals. His solo catalogue includes Scenes from My Life, Reverence, Munia, Tiki and Heritage. Richard Bona toured as a member of the Pat Metheny Group around Speaking of Now, and that lineup was captured in the concert film Speaking of Now Live. He later documented his own band on Bona Makes You Sweat: Live, then toured Heritage with the Afro-Cuban ensemble Mandekan Cubano.

Biréli Lagrène is a French guitarist born in 1966 in Soufflenheim, Alsace. He first became known for the Django Reinhardt repertoire heard on the early album Routes to Django, then extended his work into jazz fusion and post-bop. His recordings also include Gipsy Project and D-Stringz, made with Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty. As a teenager, he performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival. His electric work in the 1980s led to concerts with bassist Jaco Pastorius, including the Stuttgart performance released as Stuttgart Aria. The concert album Live in Marciac followed in the 1990s, before he returned to Django-centered acoustic swing with the Gipsy Project.