by Dean Chalkley
When the British band Cymande broke up more than 50 years ago, after three albums and a foray to the U.S., they might have thought it was for keeps. But their socially conscious mix of calypso, funk and jazz lived on, especially in the heads and record collections of American hip-hop musicians, whose sampling put Cymande on an unexpected path to recognition and revival.
Founding members Steve Scipio and Patrick Patterson, originally from Guyana, met as neighbors on the same street in London, where they joined with other self-taught musicians from Jamaica, St. Vincent and Nigeria. Out of all-day neighborhood jam sessions a nine-piece ensemble — named after a calypso word for “dove” — took shape. Cymande’s buoyant sound embraced the musicians’ diasporic roots and deftly chronicled the hopes they nurtured, and the hostilities they faced, as immigrants.
Scipio’s bounding bass line on “Bra,” from the band’s eponymous 1972 debut, was emblematic, drawing the listener into a into a flourish of brass and a rousing chorus — “But it’s alright/we can still go on” — that cut against moody verses relating immigrant struggle. That same bass line would reappear year later in tracks by De La Soul and Gang Starr.
Unlike their home country, the U.S. embraced Cymande with open ears, leading to an appearance on “Soul Train,” a tour with soul star Al Green and a milestone gig — the first British band to headline Harlem’s Apollo Theater.
But with a lagging career back in London, they split in 1975. Scipio and guitarist Patterson became lawyers in the U.K. and eventually resettled in the West Indies, starting families and participating in local politics. And all the while, hip-hop luminaries including Fugees, Queen Latifah, and Wu-Tang Clan were introducing Cymande to a new generation of listeners.They reunited briefly in 2012, released a new album in 2015 — their first in 41 years — and were celebrated in a 2022 documentary, Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande. A new album, 2025’s Renascence, refines Cymande’s trademark sound and conscious message.
Cymande play 8pm Wednesday, March 25 at the Miami Beach Bandshell. cymandeofficial.com ~ Olivia Feldman
