Music
Cymande heading for Stockholm and the Red Bull Music Festival
If you’ve never experienced funk to be breezy and balearic, you haven’t heard Cymande. Tom Pyl takes you down memory lane and gives you some of the highlights of the long lasting funk bands career.
This British outfit, formed in London 1971, is the manifestation of what happens when Caribbean born musicians melt parts of their musical heritage together, creating a seamless musical experience. Put bits of reggae, funk, soul, latin, West Indian folk, jazz and rock in the mix and you’re halfway in grasping the sound of Cymande. Their name is derived from the calypso word for ‘dove’, symbolizing peace and love and that same kind of hopefulness is also shown in their music. Off their first self-titled album released in 1972, the song titled “Dove” will build that feeling within you for the entirety of it’s almost eleven minutes. Truly uplifting music in a low key way.
The 13-piece group were signed to American Janus Records (a division of Chess Records) and released their first single “The Message”, which peaked at #20 on the Billboard R&B Chart in ’72 and #48 on the Hot 100 in early 1973. That marked the end of Cymande’s quite modest chart success but they would be recognized in other ways after their musical career was (temporarily) over.
Cymande in Lausanne
© Cymande
Their debut album also featured their best known song, the single “Bra”. Used in not one, but two Spike Lee-movies: Crooklyn and The 25th Hour, starring Edward Norton. The latter also found a place for “The Message” and “Dove” on the original soundtrack.
De La Soul sampled “Bra” on their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising and The Fugees used parts of “Dove” on The Score - to name but a few of the approximately 100 times Cymande’s music has been given new life by others.
In 1973 the band’s second album, conveniently named Second Time Around, emerged and their style of “light funk” was a continuous force to be reckoned with. Piano driven “Crawshay” and tempo changing “Bird” are the two standouts tracks for me, but as with most of Cymande’s work they are able to display strong holdings throughout.
Cymande in concert
© Cymande
Their third album Promised Heights was released a year later and featured another Cymande classic in “Brothers on the Slide”. MF Doom took good care of the bassline and basically made a hypnotizing loop of it under his Metal Fingers alias in 2006. It’s that good of a bassline.
The afro feel in the opening song “Pon de Dungle” sets the tone for the rest of the album, but this still is a typical Cymande record filled with layers of musical influences where the brass section takes charge of almost every track. Among the major highlights is the flute on “Changes”, which is pure bliss. Being their most sought after record, a well appreciated Mr Bongo reissue saw the light of day last year.
After releasing boogiedisco- and jazzfunk-themed Arrival in 1981, the band made a 30-year hiatus and came back for a tour in 2014 and a brand new album in 2015. A Simple Act of Faith was a return to a more eclectic style, dipping their toes in UK pop reggae territory. When opening the Sky City / Takt / Love Potion night at Tak, we simply can’t be sure exactly what to expect from Cymande other than being the smoothest funk group out there since way back when.
Make sure to check out the Cymande show at the Red Bull Music Festival Stockholm on June 8th, at the TAK/SUS daytime party. Cymande will be the opening act performing at 14.30 and tickets are already on sale here.
