First published in June 2013. The Thump festival had plenty of star power over the weekend, and none greater than bass don Richard Bona who appeared at the club over two nights. Although billed to appear with the great Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba who had cancelled for unannounced reasons, Bona has sufficient personality to carry the gig all by himself although he was joined by hard swinging post-bop drummer Ernesto Simpson, best known in the UK for his work with guitarist Phil Robson, plus Simpson’s fellow Cuban the New York-based pianist Osmany Paredes, who at times sounded uncannily like Chucho Valdés.

Bona is a terrific showman, and has a winning way with the audience but isn’t above messing about and musing a tad mystifyingly about how he would talk to aliens should he meet them! He cut into the riff from the Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’ a couple of times just for fun and joshed with members of the audience and bantered with the band particularly after a couple of people noisily left to catch a train towards the end of the late set.

Best bits were the rearranged or ‘deranged’ (as Bona called it) take on ‘All Blues’ and the epic ‘Destiny’ although switching for a slower number sung in Portuguese didn’t come off so well. Bona has a lovely soft singing voice and his skill at low volume and the melodiousness of his sound was enough to quieten even a very full jazz club on a warm Soho night. A lot of musicians were in the audience to hear Bona, including Monty Alexander drummer Obed Calvaire who had been on stage earlier with the great Jamaican pianist a few streets away at Ronnie Scott’s. MOBO-nominated guitarist Femi Temowo and pianist Andrew McCormack were also among those dropping by to hear Bona perform.

Simpson was a suitable foil to the bassist and very au fait with his every move, and while the pianist was relatively restrained his montuno breakouts showed his consummate skill. Simpson excelled on some cowbell-flavoured descarga sections when the trio began to really move and when Bona lifted the tempo.

The Cameroonian, who first came to international prominence with the Zawinul Syndicate, has extraordinary ingenuity and creative ideas on the bass guitar with so many original touches and daring breakaway figures too many to mention. It was a pity we couldn’t witness his interplay with the absent Rubalcaba but the upside to his no-show was that Bona’s role was enhanced and could be appreciated all the more intimately. An Afro-Cuban flavoured evening that had much to recommend it all in all. SG