Donald Kachamba, born in Blantyre, in 1953, is considered one of the outstanding musician-composers of the middle generation in south-eastern Africa. Born in a musical family he has contributed enormously to the development of the kwela (flute-jive) tradition. Kwela a verb meaning "to climb up", "to rise", "mount" in several southern African Bantu languages became a code-word for a jazzrelated form of music which emerged in southern Africa during the 1950s. Kwela was inspired by contemporary American jazz forms of the Swing period in Jazz history. It soon assimilated, however, african musical forms of various southern African regions, such as sinjonjo, vula matambo, saba saba, resulting in a novel and original blend of musical traits.

Special techniques were developed on musical instruments, for example an unusual oblique embouchure for playing the metal recorder-type flute which marks the kwela-sound. This flute, although industrially manufactured at the time by firms such as the Hohner Company, Trossingen (Germany),was adapted by kwela musicians to perform the current southern African dance music. Specific construction, tension and playing techniques also characterize the one-string bass which displays remote historical connections with the african ground-bow, although it was inspired by the bass in 1950s skiffle groups. Guitar playing techniques also deviate considerably from standard "classical" guitar playing, even in the number of strings. A five-string tuning is used in Donald Kachamba's group, in which the lowest string alludes to the fundamentals of a musical bow. Instead of the flute, an E-flat clarinet is used in many of Donald Kachamba's compositions.

Donald Kachamba was the last representative of the kwela tradition in southern Africa today. Since 1972, he has been on extensive, sometimes world-wide tours almost every year, covering 33 countries in Africa, Europe and the Americas. In May 1988 he was touring Finland on invitation by the Institute for Workers‘ Music, Helsinki, in May 1989 he performed at the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zürich. In 1991 the band toured Belgium and Germany. From this tour resulted the CD "Concert Kwela -- Donald Kachamba et son ensemble" LDX 274972 CM 212, Le Chant du Monde 1994. In 1994 Donald Kachamba was invited to the colloquiwn "Music and Anthropology" in Lisbon 28 September to 3 October to present one of his films. Thereafter he gave lecture performances in Berlin, Frankfurt and Salzburg. The most recent European tour was in January 1995 to Holland, Belgium and France (on invitation by Radio France, Paris).

Donald Kachamba died on Friday the 12th January 2001.