If Franco was the finest musician in the Congo, and indeed Africa, then his rival Joseph Kabasele was the most influential band leader. Known as Le Grand Kallé, he was a singer, songwriter and ...

Bandleader, songwriter and singer Joseph Kabasele, known by his nickname "Le Grand Kalle", was one of the pioneers of Congolese popular music. He certainly blazed a trail for Congolese rumba, the most ...

Singer and composer Joseph Kabasele, aka Le Grand Kallé, is widely credited with the creation of "Congolese rumba," the most popular style in Central and East Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. In ...

Twice a week at Hôtel la Crèche in Matongé – one of the most bustling and culturally diverse neighbourhoods in the Congolese capital – the evening becomes a 1960s Kinshasa Rumba spectacle. A rooftop ...

Joseph Kabasele Tshamala was born 1930, in Matadi, Zaire. Considered as the father of modern Zairean music, Kalle's earliest musical experiences were as a member of the church choir in his home town ...