No one could forget an encounter with Pepe Kalle, six feet tall and weighing a good 300-pounds. Afropop first interviewed him in a Kinshasa hotel in 1987. Kalle arrived in a full-length, sky-blue, West African grand boubou with gold embroidery, and a pair of leather slippers. He gobbled down a large steak as though it were a potato chip. When asked to sing a small ditty for the program, Kalle tapped out a tone on his wristwatch to get in tune, and then summoned up that enormous, resonant, velvety voice.

Empire Bakuba remained active and relatively stable during years of tremendous turbulence in Congolese music, and Congolese life. At a performance in Harare, just months before Kalle died of a sudden heart attack, the band had sprawled to the size of an orchestra. Emuaro, who passed away early in the 1990s, had been replaced by three Pygmee dancers, and the performance had the feel of a musical circus. Empire Bakuba had clearly peaked by then, but there was no denying the sense of community the band generated. When Kalle coaxed a solo from his able guitarist Doris, that big convention center crowd seemed to draw close.

Kalle\'s final recording, Coctail (ETS NDIAYE/Stern\'s 1998) acquits him well. He harmonizes gloriously over subtle guitar interplay on \"Pinos Kabuya.\" He celebrates the Malian 13th century king in the Latin-flavored \"Soundiata Keita.\" Rumba and roots come together in a high-tech concoction that perfectly represents the passionate jumble that is modern Africa. ">

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Pepe Kalle
Central Africa
Democratic Republic of Congo
Pepe Kalle, live in Harare, 1998. © B. Eyre
Once called the "Elephant of Congo Music," Pepe Kalle was a musical giant as well. Read more on Pepe Kalle...
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