Le Grand Kallé

Le Grand Kallé died in a hospital in Paris, France, on 11 February 1983. He was buried in Gombe Cemetery in Kinshasa.

In 1960, he established his own label, Subourboum Jazz, which was home to Franco Luambo's TPOK Jazz. Grand Kallé was responsible for striking deals with European record labels to ensure high quality recordings of his band's music for the Francophone market.

In the mid-1960s, Kallé suffered his first major setback when two of his protégés (Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr Nico Kasanda) left to form their own group called Africa Fiesta. Kallé never recovered from this setback, concentrating on nurturing the talent of singer Pépé Kallé.

As a prominent figure in the Belgian Congo, Kallé was chosen as a member of the Congolese delegation at the "Round Table Conference" on Congolese independence in 1960. He composed several songs on a political themes, notably "Indépendance Cha Cha" and "Table Ronde".

In 1953, disillusioned with the lack of modernisation at OTC, he formed l'African Jazz, which some consider to be the most important Congolese band. L'African Jazz was one of the most popular early African Rumba bands. At its height, L'African Jazz included big names like guitarist Dr Nico Kasanda, saxophonist Manu Dibango and singers Tabu Ley Rochereau, Sam Mangwana and Pepe Kalle.

In the early 1950s, at a new recording studio called Opika, Kasabele received an opportunity to pursue a career in music. He joined with two of the session guitarists at Opika records, Georges Doula and Albert Yamba-Yamba, to form a combo called Groupe Doula Georges. In 1951 Doula and his band starred in a publicity film for the radio station Voix de la Concorde, which operated under the call letters "OTC." To capitalize on the notoriety gained from the film, the band chose to rename themselves OTC.

Joseph Athanase Tshamala Kabasele (16 December 1930 in Matadi, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) – 11 February 1983 in Paris, France), popularly known as Le Grand Kallé, was a Congolese singer and bandleader, considered the father of modern Congolese music. He is best known for his role as leader of the band, Le Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz, in which capacity he was involved in a number of noted songs, including Indépendance Cha Cha.