Le Grand Kallé - Biography
By J Poet
Joseph Kabaselle Tshamala, better known as Le Grand Kalle, was the most influential composer and bandleader in the Congo/Zaire, and indeed, of all West Africa, in the late 50s and early 60s. By combining Congolese music with jazz and re-Africanized Cuban rhythms, Kalle produced the sound known today a soukous, one of the most influential musical styles in the world. His bands trained and influenced the first generation of African superstars including guitarist Dr. Nico Kassanda, singer Tabu Ley Rochereau, and sax player Manu Dibango who all played with his band L'African Jazz. He was one of the first African musicians to strike deals with European record companies to insure that his music would be recorded at the best studios available. His topical lyrics made him a favorite of the people, but a thorn in the side of the dictators that arose after the end of colonialism. He spent the last decade of his life in self-imposed exile in Paris.
Kalle was born in 1930 in Matadi, in the province of Bas-Congo. He displayed musical talent at an early age and throughout his grammar and high school years he was trained by Catholic missionaries in liturgical music, which gave him a foundation in theory, composition, and singing. In 1949, he moved to Leopoldville (today Kinshasha) to become a musician. Once there he listened to highlife from Ghana, jazz from the United States, and European pop music. The Orchestre De Tendence Congolaise took him on as a front man and he was soon contributing compositions and arrangements to their repertoire. The Cuban and Brazilian music he heard over the radio – bolero, mambo, rumba, cha cha, samba and salsa – seeped into his music in a re-Africanized form. In 1953, he put together L'African Jazz, one of the first full time professional bands in Kinshasha. They were an immediate sensation and Kalle signed them to the British record label Decca and started making 78 RPM singles. He also recorded for HMV (later RCA) and made hundreds of records for both labels. His big band sound included traditional instruments, electric guitar, sax and stand up bass. The band’s lead guitarist Dr. Nico Kassanda, became Zaire’s first guitar hero, and the band’s other lead singer, Tabu Ley Rochereau who wrote the early hit “Besame,” went on to become one of Zaire’s most important bandleaders.
L'African Jazz toured West Africa and Europe and in 1960 added future sax legend Manu Dibango to the lineup. Kalle also started his own label, Surboum Jazz, and signed Franco’s TP OK Jazz. The label lined up European distribution and financing and recorded in state of the art recording facilities in Europe introducing African pop music to the world. When Zaire achieved independence from Belgium in 1960 Kalle wrote “Viva Liberty Cha Cha (Independence Cha Cha),” a gigantic hit. Kalle supported Patrice Lumumba’s bid for president and when Lumumba was assassinated in 1961, Kalle wrote many songs critical of the new repressive government. When his life was threatened he fled to Paris.
In Paris, Kalle reconnected with Manu Dibango and formed African Team with sax/clarinet player Jean-Serge Essous. They recorded prolifically and toured Europe and Africa with great success. In the late 70s, the African Team ventured back into Zaire, but Kalle lived in Paris until his death of hypertension in 1983. He was only 53 years old.
Kalle and his bands recorded prolifically in the days before LPs. Grande Kalle et L'African Jazz, Vol. 1 (1994 Sonodisc France) and Grande Kalle et L'African Jazz, Vol. 2 (1994 Sonodisc France) brings together songs from the late 50s and early 60s. Ruphine Missive (1997 Sonodisc France) features lead vocals by Tabu Ley. Other collections include African Jazz/African Team Succes Des Annees 50/60 (1997 Sonodisc France), African Jazz/African Team 1966-1967 (1996 Sonodisc France),Grand Kalle and l'African Team, Vol. 1 1958-1960 (2006 Syllart France), Grand Kalle and l'African Team, Vol. 2 1961-1962 (2006 Syllart France), Grand Kalle and l'African Team, Essous/Kwamy/Mujos/Edo/Casino (1994 Syllart France). and Grand Kalle, African Jazz/African Team 1967, 1968, 1970 (1994 Syllart France).
