Bakithi Kumalo on Paul Simon’s Graceland, Fretless Bass, and Finding His Voice

Bakithi Kumalo’s bass lines on Paul Simon’s Graceland are the stuff of legend, but the road that led him there is even more incredible. On a new episode of The Bass Nerds Podcast, Bakithi walks us through his journey, from growing up in the townships of South Africa to tracking one of the most iconic bass parts of all time.

He shares how he first picked up a fretless bass in a shop he couldn’t afford, how that sound got him kicked out of local bands, and how everything changed when Paul Simon came calling. One day he was working as a mechanic. A few days later, he was in the studio recording “You Can Call Me Al.”

We talk tone, slapping on a fretless, and what it felt like to be dropped into the deep end of a project that would change his life. He also opens up about the political pressure around the album, why he stuck with it, and how music became his way out.

“Paul didn’t just give me a gig,” he says. “He gave me a chance to be myself.”

Watch or listen to the full conversation on The Bass Nerds now.