Cymande - Funky Souls

Cymande (Sah-mahn-day), were a diverse band who released three LPs on the Chess Records Janus subsidiary between 1972 and 1974. The group first formed in 1971 in London, England, and contained musicians from Guyana and Jamaica. They had a funky style, infused with calypso rhythms, jazz, African music and soul with just a touch of rock for good measure. The name Cymande is derived from a Calypso word for Dove, which symbolizes peace and love, and perfectly encapsulated their "rasta/hippie philosophy".
Cymande were discovered accidentally by the producer John Schroeder, who was probably best known for his work on Helen Shapiro's 'Walking Back to Happiness' and Status Quo's 'Pictures of Matchstick Men' in a Soho, London club where they were rehearsing. He had turned up at the club hoping to catch a rock band he was interested in but the gig had been cancelled, and so he stumbled upon this unique collection of musicians instead. Suitably impressed he soon the band signed and recorded their initial single "The Message". The single was released and the track peaked at number 20 on the US R&B and Pop charts, unfortunately the single didn't fair quite so well here in the UK. This single was then followed by Cymande's self titled release in 1972.
On the strength of the success of "The Message" and subsequent LP release in the US they traveled to New York, and began a tour of the US supporting Al Green, as well as sharing a few bills with the Latin funk ensemble Mandrill. They also appeared at a few important venues, including The Apollo, and played a gig on US TV's popular Soul Train.
The band released two more LP's for Janus, "Second Time Round" and finally "Promised Heights", which shows Cymande developing their distinctive chilled funk/jazz sound, and was surprisingly not released in the US where they had achieved their initial success. "Promised Heights" included one of their best tracks, "Brothers on the Slide," along with "The Recluse," the down tempo jazz/funk of "Changes" and the slow funk churner of title tune "Promised Heights." Failure to build on the initial success of their first LP sadly meant that in 1974 the band decided to call it a day go their separate ways.
It wasn't until some 20 years later that they reaped any financial rewards, as their music became popular and widely sought-after by DJ's and funk aficionados alike as a source for samples and also with the emergence of the Rare Groove scene in London, to the point were they are one of the most sampled bands around. The track "Bra" has being sampled by De La Soul on "Change In Speak" from the seminal 3ft High & Rising and used as a breakbeat by the godfathers of hip-hop DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, and "The Message" has been used by Brothers Like Outlaw, MC Solaar, King T, Kings Of Swing, Masta Ace, RRA, The Coup and Manchester's Ruthless Rap Assassins to name but a few.To say though that Cymande are just a great band for samples would be a complete injustice to the music that they have created and left behind. I find that they can be both energizing and calming (check out "Dove" for 11mins of pure chilled funky bliss) in equal measure, plus their lyrics are always searching for the positive and uplifting to the spirit, they always improve my day anyway. So don't just search out Cymande like some train spotter looking for their breaks, but listen to them as whole and take delight in their pure ratsafied, funky, soulful, jazzed up sound.....oh with a healthy splash of Africa thrown in....pure musical brilliance!

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