For the seventh time in a row, the Sea of Music festival will be a great opportunity for the music lovers in Szczecin to make it through the long rainy autumn months. This year’s edition will be inaugurated by the concert of Richard Bona, one of the most accomplished world music and jazz artists. The concert will be hosted by Marcin Kydryński, who discovered the Cameroonian maestro and has promoted his music in Poland for a number of years.

Richard Bona, a bass player born in Cameroon, also known as the “African Sting”, has been enchanting audiences around the world with his talent and humor for fifteen years now. He made his debut in 1999 with the “Scenes from My Life” album. He has released seven solo albums and recorded a number of pieces with such renowned world music and jazz artists as Joe Zawinul, Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, Regina Carter or Bobby McFerrin.

As Richard Bona works across multiple genres, critics have problems with assessing his eclectic style. His music is a mix of jazz, bossa nova, pop, afro-beat, traditional songs and funk. In Szczecin, we will hear the songs from his latest album entitled “Bonafied”.
On 6 November, the Lulu Club will host Bilal – one of the major neo-soul stars who has sung with some of the most famous black music artists, to include Beyonce, Jay Z or Erykah Badu (treating him as their peer at the same time).

The artistic talent of Bilal, born in Philadelphia, emerged at the beginning of the 21st century. His voice has been admired by wide audiences for more than ten years now. Having graduated from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, a prestigious music academy in New York, he made his debut at the side of Common on his LP entitled “Like Water For Chocolate”, to consolidate his position through a song recorded with Guru and J Dilla on the Jazzmatazz Vol.3 album. His solo debut featured contributions from Dilla and Dr Dre themselves. It’s not surprising then that the LP entitled “1st Born Second” has become one of the landmark neo-soul albums.

When not recording his own songs, the artist collaborated with and appeared on projects by such celebrities as: Beyonce (“Fighting Temptations”), Common (“Like Water for Chocolate”, “Electric Circus”, “Be” and “Finding Forever”), Jay-Z (“American Gangster”), Erykah Badu (“New Amerykah Part One” and “New Amerykah Part Two”) or Robert Glasper (“All Matter”, “Black Radio”). He also collaborated with Guru, Dr Dre, J Dilla, Talib Kweli, Zap Mama and The Roots.

In 2010, Bilal made a comeback with a great album entitled “Airtight’s Revenge”, featuring “Little One” – a song thanks to which he was nominated for the Grammy Award for the second time. Fans did not have to wait long for the next album – “Love Surreal” was released in spring 2013. Robert Glasper, a brilliant pianist and Bilal’s college friend, is one of the guests invited to support the artist on his latest album, which has been received with enthusiasm, both by fans and critics. It debuted at No. 1 on iTunes’ R&B Chart.

Fans in Szczecin will have the chance to see Bilal with his strongest band comprising six musicians. The vocalist will be supported by Conley Whitfield Jr. (bass), Steve McKie (drums), Corey Bernhard (keyboard), Dai Miyazaki (guitar) and Micah Robinson (chorus).

For more information go to: www.morzemuzyki.pl