When Bassist Bakithi Kumalo Collaborated with Paul Simon on Graceland]

There’s a moment in Joe Berlinger’s 2012 documentary Under African Skies that gets right to the bottom of Paul Simon’s game-changing 1986 hit Graceland.

We learn that the album’s music showed the world a different side of apartheid-torn South Africa, that Simon’s arrival was politically complicated, and that the combination of his vision, the studio musicians’ talent, and engineer Roy Halee’s editing prowess created a synthesis previously unheard in American music.

But when the camera gets to Talking Heads icon David Byrne, he verbalizes what bass players all over the world were thinking: “The Paul Simon albums before Graceland had great songs, but this one had a little more low-end going on.”

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Kumalo’s basslines were uniquely South African, and would make him a bass hero for his work on Graceland and its successor, Rhythm of the Saints.

Kumalo had just returned from an 18-month tour of Zululand when he first met Simon. “After I came back, things were bad,” said Kumalo in the October 2016 issue of Bass Player. “There was no money, so I got a job as a runner for a mechanic – the guy would tell me, ‘Go get me a wrench. Grab me this and that.’

“I had given a producer my number at work in case he wanted me for a session, and I always had my bass at the job so I could practice during lunch breaks.

“One day, my boss calls me into the office. I’m thinking, ‘Am I getting fired?’ And then he says to me, ‘Do you know who Paul Simon is?’ I said, ‘No.’ This guy was a white boss; I come from the township.

“He started singing all of Paul’s songs, and I didn’t recognize any of them until he sang Mother and Child Reunion. I was like, ‘Yeah, the reggae song. Isn’t Paul Simon Jamaican?’ He’s like, ‘He’s not Jamaican, he’s American.’

“‘Paul Simon is in town, and they’re looking for you in the studio, so here’s the money. Take the bus.’ He gave me a couple of rand, and I took the bus with my bass, without a case, to the studio.

“I showed up, and it looked like a daycare. There were a lot of musicians, and some of them had brought their kids. Paul was sitting on the floor playing with kids, and then he introduced himself. He said, ‘Hey, my name is Paul Simon, and I love your work.’ I’m thinking, ‘You love my work?’

Then he plays Ha Peete Kea Falla, by Tau Ea Matsekha, and he asked, ‘Are you the bass player on this track?’ I said yes. He’s like, ‘Man, I love this. We’re going to work with this groove.’ So we started to jam and change things around on what later became The Boy in The Bubble.”

And you were still in work clothes.

I came in with my greasy hands and ripped pants, and my toes were sticking out of my shoes. Paul asked me if I wanted a bass case, and then he was like, ‘Do you need another bass?’ I said, ‘Sure!’ So he sent somebody to the music store and got me a Fender. I played that bass on the Graceland shows we did in Zimbabwe, and it sounded unbelievable. But it got stolen in South Africa.

How were the initial recording sessions?

Paul loved everything I played. His engineer, Roy Halee, deserves credit for recognizing my sound, putting reverb on my bass, and letting the world hear it. He’s responsible for my fretless sound.

Paul chose the musicians he wanted to work with, and when he decided to bring us to New York to continue the sessions, I was so excited. I couldn’t sleep the night before we were supposed to leave. I thought that if I went to bed, I might wake up late and miss the flight!

But you made it to New York.

We stayed on 48th Street and Eighth Avenue, right where there was a lot of stuff. We’d go to Manny’s and Rudy’s, and everything was open 24 hours, pizza all over the place … oh my god, it was beautiful. It was amazing.

My first session after Paul was with Laurie Anderson. She loved my fretless sound. Will Lee told me, ‘Man, people call me to play like you. Go take care of business!’ He introduced me to a lot of people, and then I started to get sessions. Paul Winter, Herbie Hancock, and Randy Brecker all won Grammys for records that I played on. Word started to get around – ‘Hey, man, Bakithi’s in town!’

I’ve heard that Paul has strong ideas about your parts and your basses.

Yeah, it took me a while to understand that. He’s always listening. Because I played a fretless 4-string on Graceland, for example, he’ll notice if I play a fretted bass or a 5-string.

Paul is not really a bass person – he likes the feel of it, but he’s not a really big bass fan. He likes guitars and horns; keyboard, not very much. He’s always directing the bass, and I have to give him what he wants.

What does he want?

He doesn’t want much bass in his ear when he’s singing because he’s telling a story, and he wants people to hear what he’s saying. Before the last tour, we rehearsed for five months, and every day, he asked me not to play, to just listen.

When it was time to run the whole show, he asked me if I had parts, and when I began to play, he directed me until he was happy. On his recent albums like So Beautiful or So What and Stranger to Stranger, there’s hardly any bass.

Onstage, if one of the guitar players and I are trying to do things at the same time, it can be like a traffic jam. It confuses the ear. So I stop playing, and then when I come back in, it’s like, ‘Oh – everything is beautiful.’

How closely do you stick to the classic bass parts on Paul’s records?

I learn the changes and the approaches, but I always keep my style. I don’t try to make it better – I just play it so Paul can sing and understand it. And sometimes, he asks me to come up with new basslines.

What are you playing these days?

I have my signature Kala U-Bass, a John J. Slog 5-string, an NS CR Design Radius, an NS NXT Design Double Bass, and the upright bass that I play on Wristband.

How long have you played upright?

The bass player in my uncle’s band used to play electric and upright, so there was always one around. I always loved to play upright, which is why the transition to fretless was easy – I was used to not looking at the frets. My fretless Radius is similar to the bass I played on Graceland, but with stronger tone.

Do you still have the Washburn?

Yes! It was starting to buzz, so I got new pickups and a new preamp from Aguilar, and it sounds unbelievable again. I also have 4-, 5- and 6-string Elrick basses. Rob is a great guy, and he builds such great instruments. I take his basses to sessions because they have good tone, much different from other basses.

Do you think Paul is going to retire?

I don’t know, but I’ve never heard of a musician retiring. You cut down things, but you don’t retire. This man loves music. But maybe it’s because of what’s going on with the world now. It’s scary to travel – you might be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

How can we, as musicians, make a difference?

We have to keep our heads up and be aware of what’s going on. It’s not really about making money and getting people dancing; it’s about doing something for the people who are suffering. We have to help one another and stay connected.