Solid
A tip of the hat to Bakithi Kumalo
Welcome to our Musical Zodiac, in which we arbitrarily match instruments to personality types and use it as an excuse to talk about our favorite musickers. The astrological sign for 19 December - 19 January is Capricorn - which has very scientifically been aligned with the personality of the Bass.
I may have mentioned before that Paul Simon’s Graceland album was a big influence on me as a music lover:
As it turns out, I am not alone in my admiration for that record. There is one musician whose contributions to that album leaped from the speakers and commanded my attention - possibly one of the first names I learned from liner notes because his performance stood out so prominently.
His name is Bakithi Kumalo, and if you aren’t familiar with the breakdown bass solo from “You Can Call Me Al,” then click this video and experience it right now:
“Of course, all of the songs from Graceland are my favorite, because I got an opportunity…”
Kumalo has gone on to earn multiple Grammy awards and carve out a life in the United States - and I love the balance he strikes in that video between owning his tremendous accomplishments while being humble about the contributions of others.
As he says, most of the other musicians who made Graceland are no longer with us - guitarist Ray Phiri, singer and leader of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Joseph Shabalala, and the prolific General M.D. Shirinda. Kumalo considers it his duty to represent them to the world.
Before I leave you with “Happy Village” from his 2021 release, What You Hear Is What You See (available on Bandcamp at that link), I want to remind you that there is a whole continent of African music out there to explore — and our friends over at
are a good place to start.Thanks for joining me during Capricorn/Bass month! Come back next week to see which instrument goes with “Aquarius”!
:)