Branislav Lala Kovačev (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав „Лала" Ковачев; November 19, 1939 in Kikinda, Serbia – September 2, 2012 in Hvar, Croatia) was a Yugoslavian-Serbian jazz musician, drummer, bandleader and composer.

[1] He showed interest in music at a young age, playing trumpet first and soon turning to drums.

From 1974 to 1975 he played with Max Greger in Munich and with the North German Radio Orchestra in Hanover.

During this period he was collaborating with Chick Corea, Hans Koller, Janusz Muniak, Zbigniew Seifert, Albert Mangelsdorff, Wolfgang Dauner, Alan Skidmore, Boško Petrović, Michal Urbaniak, Duško Gojković and Benny Bailey.

[2] In the early-1970s Kovačev formed European Jazz Consensus with Alan Skidmore, Gerd Dudek and Adelhard Roidinger.