BAKITHI KUMALO

Bakithi Kumalo’s bass playing can be found in the heart and soul of the modern day anthems that have shaped our sense of music and culture as we know it. Ranked among the top 50 bass players in the world by Bass Player Magazine, Bakithi Kumalo is a five-time Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist. Born in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa and surrounded by relatives who loved music and actively performed, Kumalo landed his first job at the age of seven filling in for his uncle's bass player. Kumalo worked as a session musician in South Africa during the 1970s and early 1980s, eventually becoming a top session bassist and accompanying international performers during their South African tours.

In 1985, Kumalo was introduced to Paul Simon by producer Hendrick Lebone during the recording sessions for Simon's Graceland album. Kumalo then traveled with Simon to New York to finish the album and after the accompanying premier tour, spent several years commuting between Soweto and New York City before permanently settling in the United States. Kumalo has toured regularly with Simon throughout his career and has recorded with and performed alongside many other artists such as Joan Baez, Cyndi Lauper, Hugh Masekela, Herbie Hancock, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Brecker, Grover Washington Jr., Mickey Hart and Disney’s The Lion King. 

Bakithi has released several albums as a solo artist and most recently has been working alongside producer Maxfeld Gast and Militia Hill in creating his upcoming album What You Hear Is What You See, featured on Ropeadope, due to premiere in the fall of 2021. 

BAKITHI KUMALO ON THE ALBUM

My new album, What You Hear Is What You See, is a full circle moment. I came from South  Africa 35 years ago, and now living in the US for more of my life, and writing this album is completing a whole cycle for me. I love it, and I am very proud of it.  It's inspired by my journey from South Africa. My life was pretty much homeless when I  started. I used to stay with everybody (chuckles), my friends, and try to figure out how to play music together.  

A couple years ago, I was doing these tours, and traveling around the world. Some of the places  we traveled to, we would get 2 or 3 days off, so I would blend in with the locals, and go to the  laundromat and look for food, and give some clothes to the homeless people, and talk to them asking  why they are on the street? So they would tell me their stories, and I would take those stories back to  the hotel, and I would start to create pieces thinking about these people. As I'm creating, I find out that  their situation is the same as my situation. 

This album is about my journey from South Africa, and everyone's journey everyday. It's about connecting and was made to help people to remember to live in the moment, and keep moving forward. Everyday is a gift, so open it and see what's inside! I like to be in the moment, enjoying a nice day, a  beautiful walk with nature, and create. Plus, creating is much easier when there is a story, a journey.  This is what I do everyday, this is my journey. So look around, What You Hear Is What You See! 

Take a journey, take a desert walk, listen to the peaceful water, and go listen to it! The more  you listen the more your imagination will take you to deeper and deeper places. This is all for US!  Enjoy it!  

-Bakithi Kumalo