![\"Kayhan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/leftie-the-bassist.jpg\" "\\"One-armed")
\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Kayhan \u201cLeftie\u201d Baratali, a one-armed bassist, has become known for playing in the subway.<\/p>\n
Photos: Aljawhara Alhedfa<\/p>\n
Beneath the roar of Manhattan\u2019s subways, one musician turns a crowded platform into his stage. Kayhan \u201cLeftie\u201d Baratali, a one-armed bassist from Rockland County, fills the NYC subway tunnels with deep, rolling rhythms that reflect both his skill and his journey overcoming adversity.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every performance represents not just artistic passion but remarkable dedication. For 16 years, Baratali has made the daily trek across the Hudson \u2014 a three-hour round trip \u2014 to play for passing New Yorkers. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the job,\u201d he says with a grin. \u201cIf I want to play for this city, I have to come to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born without his left arm, Baratali first discovered music through an unlikely source \u2014 the video game Guitar Hero. That spark turned into a passion. Teaching himself to play bass with a customized technique, he developed a style that\u2019s as distinctive as his sound.<\/p>\n
Still, music wasn\u2019t always his plan. Encouraged by his family\u2019s sacrifices, in college Baratali enrolled in engineering school. But during exam season, tragedy struck \u2014 his mother passed away. \u201cIf I play my guitar loud enough and rock hard enough,\u201d he says, \u201cmaybe she can hear me in heaven.\u201d The loss pushed him to leave school and chase his passion, playing music, full-time.<\/p>\n
Since then, Baratali has built his career on the city\u2019s streets and subway platforms, recently earning a coveted spot in the MTA\u2019s Music Under New York program \u2014 which features licensed performers at some of the busiest stations in the system.<\/p>\n
Each day, thousands of riders briskly walk past his performances. Some stop for a song or two, others for longer. \u201cPeople don\u2019t always know what they\u2019re looking for until they hear it,\u201d he says, his bass echoing under the rumble of a passing train.<\/p>\n
For Leftie, every note carries a message of perseverance \u2014 proof that limitations don\u2019t define what\u2019s possible. His sound, born from challenge and carried through concrete tunnels, continues to remind New Yorkers that resilience can be loud, proud, and full of groove.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kayhan \u201cLeftie\u201d Baratali, a one-armed bassist, has become known for playing in the subway. Photos: Aljawhara Alhedfa Beneath…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":475078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,6297,215297,215298,9904,975,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,215299,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-475077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-bass","10":"tag-busking","11":"tag-leftie","12":"tag-mta","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-subway-performer","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115791885824113361","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}