Cymande - Biography
Cymande began in London in 1971, and disbanded after three albums in 1974. Yet while they were lamentably overlooked at the time, their sleek and infectious fusion of funk, African rhythms, reggae, Calypso, soul and jazz still sounds innovative and inspired. The adventuresome sound of Cymande stems from the roots of its members, who hailed from Jamaica, Guyana, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; all were self-taught. The lineup featured: Ray King on vocals and percussion; Patrick Patterson on guitar; Steve Scipio on bass; Joey Dee on vocals and percussion; Mike Rose on alto sax, flute, and bongo drums; Derek Gibbs on alto and soprano saxophones; Peter Serreo on tenor sax; Sam Kelly on drums and percussion; and Pablo Gonsales on conga drums. These nine eventually found their way to London, where they were discovered during a rehearsal and signed to Janus, a division of the prestigious Chess Records. Cymande (it means “dove,” as a reference to peace) recorded their first single, “The Message,” and the group seemed poised for success. “The Message” cracked the Top 40 in the US R&B charts, and Cymande came to America, where the toured with soul legend Al Green and made a fleeting appearance on the television show Soul Train.
The eponymous debut, Cymande (1972 Janus), is an impossibly engaging album, replete in West Indian texture, ghostly atmospherics, and subtly ass-shaking grooves. Songs like “Brothers on the Side,” “Dove,” and “Bra” all have world-class, intuitive, melodic repetitions that would make Curtis Mayfield turn green with envy. And like “The Gentle Genius,” Cymande are never overtly strident; they know better than to over-sell the music, and they recognize that their greatest strength is a subdued yet self-assured vibe. The follow-up is equally impressive. Second Time Round (1973 Janus) plays up the politics of peace, within some inspired beats: “Anthracite” in particular is a frenetic bit of afro-beat, propelled by Steve Scipio’s undulating bass guitar. He also leads the way on the quietly swaggering and unforgettable “Fug.” Both Cymande and Second Time Round feature some of the greatest jams of the early 1970s but while the debut almost cracked the US Top 20, neither album lived up to commercial expectations.
A year later, Cymande returned to Chess Studios to record their third LP, Promised Heights (1974 Janus). It has some wonderful moments, from the sheer pop glee of “Leavert,” while “Our Love (Will Really Get Going)” is a bouncy, good-natured romp. Still, Promised Heights lacks some of the urgency of the debut; it sounds like a slight nod to a more commercial sound. After Promised Heights, Cymande disbanded. A fourth album of unreleased material and outtakes appeared many years later: Arrival (1971 Janus) is straightforward, smooth, funk-tinged R&B. It seemed like the final nail in the coffin of a once promising career, and Cymande sailed into the mists of cult-band obscurity.
And then something peculiar happened. In the 1980s, kids in the UK house scene discovered the delicious grooves from the early albums like Cymande and Second Time Round, and DJs started using samples. Soon, the word got around, and Cymande were the rhythmic and melodic force behind some seriously mainstream artists. The classic track “Bra” has appeared in two Spike Lee films, 1993’s Crooklyn and 2002’s 25th Hour; Lee has also used “The Message” and “Dove” in his soundtracks. “Bra” was also sampled by De La Soul on “Change in Speak” from 3 Feet High and Rising. The Fugees used “Dove” on the title track for their 1996 album, The Score. Masta Ace used portions of “The Message” for a song that ended up the video game Grand Theft Auto. Raze, MC Solaar, and DJ Kool have also climbed aboard, and Cymande songs have been licensed to numerous television shows and films. That’s a tremendous — and well-earned — payout for a band that never saw a penny when they were together. All of the newfound attention was enough to incite a Cymande reunion. It’s all a fitting tribute to some post-funk visionaries who were years of their time.
