Cymande

Cymande
Origin	London, England
Genres	Funk, reggae, soul, African music
Years active	1971–1974, 2006
Labels	Janus Records
Associated acts	Al Green, Mandrill
Website	www.cymande.co.uk
Past members
Patrick Patterson Steve Scipio Sam Kelly Pablo Gonsales Michael Rose Derek Gibbs Peter Serreo Ray King Joey Dee Jimmy Lindsey George Kelly

Cymande (Sah-mahn-day) are a British funk band, who released several albums throughout the early 1970s. The group was formed in 1971 in London, England by musicians from Guyana and Jamaica. The name Cymande is derived from a Calypso word for Dove, which symbolizes peace and love.

Career

The group developed a subtle and complex, deep funk style influenced by calypso rhythms, jazz, African music, American soul and UK rock of the time. By the mid 1970s the band members were going their separate ways, and the group disbanded in 1974. It was not until 20 years later that they reaped any financial rewards, as their music became a popular source for samplers. Cymande's original albums are still widely sought-after by DJs and funk aficionados. Perhaps the band's best known recording is the soulful dancefloor filler called "Bra", which was later sampled by the American hip-hop group De La Soul and used as a breakbeat record by Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash.

Cymande was accidentally discovered by English producer John Schroeder in a Soho, London club where they were rehearsing. He was there to see a rock band but the gig had been cancelled, and he stumbled upon these West Indian musicians. He soon signed the band and recorded their initial single "The Message." The single was released by Janus Records, a division of Chess Records. The track reached #20 on the US Billboard R&B chart. This set the stage for Cymande's self titled release in 1972.

Cymande traveled to New York after the success of the first album, and began a tour of the US with Al Green. They also shared a few bills with the Latin funk ensemble Mandrill. They played a few important venues, including The Apollo, and played a gig on Soul Train.

The band released three LPs for Janus. However, their final album, Promised Heights was not released in the US where Cymande had achieved their initial success. Promised Heights included "Brothers on the Slide", "The Recluse" and "Promised Heights". The tracks "Brothers on the Slide" and "Bra" also were staples of the rare groove scene which developed in London and New York nightclubs during the 1980s.

Members of the band reunited for a performance in Brighton on 19 May 2006, during the UK Funk All-Stars night, as part of the Brighton Festival 2006.

Members

• Ray King - Vocals/Percussion
• Steve Scipio - Bass
• Derek Gibbs - Soprano/Alto
• Pablo Gonsales - Congas
• Joey Dee - Vocals/Percussion
• Peter Serreo - Tenor
• Sam Kelly - Drums
• Mike Rose - Alto/Flute/Bongos
• Patrick Patterson - Guitar
• Jimmy Lindsey - Vocals/ Percussion (Promised Heights LP)
• George Kelly - Percussion

Discography

• 1972 - Cymande
• 1973 - Second Time Round
• 1974 - Promised Heights
• 1981 - Arrival
• 1999 - The Message
• 2000 - The Soul of Rasta
• 2004 - Renegades of Funk (best of anthology)
• 2007 - Promised Heights (reissue compilation)

In popular culture

• "Bra" is featured on the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1993 film Crooklyn. "Bra", "Dove", and "The Message" can be heard in his 2002 film 25th Hour.
• "Bra" is sampled by De La Soul in the song "Change in Speak," from 3 Feet High and Rising.
• The instrumental mid-portion of "Bra" was used at both the beginning and ending of John Leguizamo's stage production Sexaholix.
• The Fugees sampled Cymande's "Dove" for the title track of their 1996 second album The Score.
• The Message was resampled for Masta Ace's "Me & The Biz," notably featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and in 1991 on MC Solaar's "Bouge de là."
• The track "Brothers on the Slide" was featured in the background of the movie, Dallas 362.
• British reggae band Aswad covered "The Message" on their 1988 album, Distant Thunder.
• "The Message" was sampled by Ruthless Rap Assassins on their 1990 single "And It Wasn't A Dream"
• "Bra" was featured in Transworld Skateboarding's "Free Your Mind" in Darrell Stanton's part, and "Crawshay" was featured in Habitat's "Mosaic" in Danny Renaud's section.
• "Dove" is also used in Lagerfeld Confidential, a documentary on Karl Lagerfeld (produced by VOGUE)
• "Bra" was featured on an episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
• "Fug" is a featured track on the video game Tony Hawk's Proving Ground.
• "Brothers On The Slide" was used in the 1996 released Girl Skateboards video, "Mouse".

References

External links

• www.cymande.co.uk (Tribute site)
• The Official Website for Sam Kelly (Drummer)