This wide ranging compilation offers an in-depth look into the  fascinating life and cosmopolitan music of the great Joseph Kabasele, better known as Le Grand Kalle, the Congolese singer and bandleader who was among the first to mix Cuban sounds with traditional African rhythms to create what is now known as soukous. With his band African Jazz he recorded hundreds of singles, so this compilation is an important resource for those trying to delve into his music, starting from his first recordings in 1951. It includes a mix of Congolese rumba, chachachàs, and merengues, boogaloos, and of course the seminal “Independence Cha Cha”, composed to celebrate the independence of the Belgian Congo (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo).