Biography
British funk ensemble Cymande, whose name is pronounced Sah-mahn-day, ranked among the earliest U.K. groups after Osibisa to fuse African rhythms with rock, funk, and soul while incorporating calypso, reggae, and contemporary jazz-funk, a hybrid they labeled nyah rock. Their self-titled 1972 debut entered the U.S. charts and received airplay across the U.K. and Western Europe. The 1973 follow-up Second Time Round showcased rhythmic variety and vocal harmonies that defined the group’s distinctive take on funky, pan-African, psychedelic soul and reggae. Promised Heights, issued the next year, broadened this approach while absorbing the creative influences of Curtis Mayfield, Earth Wind & Fire, and the Temptations. Largely ignored at the time, the band entered a four-decade hiatus, during which rappers and DJs sampled their recordings extensively and thereby attracted fresh listeners; reissues of the original albums and various compilations followed, prompting a 2013 reunion. A Simple Act of Faith appeared in 2015, and in 2024 the group returned with the charting single “How We Roll,” featuring Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B, which gained club and radio traction before the full-length Renascence surfaced in January 2025.
Nine self-taught musicians drawn from Guyana, Jamaica, and St. Vincent formed the lineup in 1971 under bassist Steve Scipio, with Ray King handling vocals and percussion, Derek Gibbs on alto and soprano saxophones, Pablo Gonsales on congas, Joey Dee on vocals and percussion, Peter Serreo on tenor saxophone, Sam Kelly on drums, Mike Rose on alto, flute, and bongos, and Patrick Patterson on guitar. The collective performed at street, club, and house-rent parties throughout London until British R&B producer John Schroeder encountered them in a Soho basement venue in 1971 and was struck by both the music and the band’s spontaneous collective energy. He recorded demos that led to an immediate signing with Janus Records and a London studio session under his supervision. The resulting 1972 debut reached the U.S. Top 200, peaked at number 25 on the R&B album chart, entered Canada’s Top 40, and registered on Scottish listings; its second side yielded the internationally charting singles “Bra” and “The Message,” with the former becoming a dance-club staple that hip-hop pioneer Kool Herc later featured in his mixes.
After extensive international touring the band reconvened with Schroeder to cut the overtly political Second Time Round, released in 1973, which again performed solidly on both the R&B and Top 200 charts through its signature reggae-and-jazz-funk blend. Further road work alongside Ramsey Lewis and Al Green preceded 1974’s Promised Heights, which retained the nyah-rock aesthetic yet revealed additional debts to Curtis Mayfield, the Temptations, James Brown, and Earth Wind & Fire; the fusion of funky reggae with abstract jazz horns, shaped in part by Joe Harriott, earned strong reviews but no chart placement. Janus subsequently dropped the group. Continued European and British gigs allowed the sound to evolve, culminating in the independently issued 1981 album Arrival on Paul Winley Records, a stylized R&B-and-disco outing that diverged markedly from prior work.
Although Cymande had effectively disbanded, interest revived in the 1990s once “Bra” appeared on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s Crooklyn and additional tracks were sampled by Raze, Master Ace, MC Solaar, De La Soul, DJ Kool, and the Fugees. Late-1990s and early-2000s demand produced three compilations: the British double-CD The Message, which gathered all three original albums; the 13-track The Soul of Rasta; and Renegades of Funk. European touring resumed for several years until the band officially reunited in 2011 with most founding members, including frontmen Scipio and Patterson. Their first album in four decades, 2015’s A Simple Act of Faith, was produced once more by Schroeder and presented a mature, polished incorporation of contemporary R&B and jazz within the group’s dubby soul-funk-reggae-rock framework; though it did not chart, critics praised it and DJs played several cuts in clubs worldwide.
Numerous labels continued to reissue the catalog in remastered editions that often added singles and rare material, sustaining the musicians’ ability to perform and create new work. A decade after A Simple Act of Faith they delivered the dance-floor hit “How We Roll,” again featuring Jazzie B, then issued the full-length Renascence on BMG in late January 2025. Produced by Ben Baptie, the album contained both “How We Roll” and the second single “Only One Way,” a vintage soul track spotlighting Celeste.
Nine self-taught musicians drawn from Guyana, Jamaica, and St. Vincent formed the lineup in 1971 under bassist Steve Scipio, with Ray King handling vocals and percussion, Derek Gibbs on alto and soprano saxophones, Pablo Gonsales on congas, Joey Dee on vocals and percussion, Peter Serreo on tenor saxophone, Sam Kelly on drums, Mike Rose on alto, flute, and bongos, and Patrick Patterson on guitar. The collective performed at street, club, and house-rent parties throughout London until British R&B producer John Schroeder encountered them in a Soho basement venue in 1971 and was struck by both the music and the band’s spontaneous collective energy. He recorded demos that led to an immediate signing with Janus Records and a London studio session under his supervision. The resulting 1972 debut reached the U.S. Top 200, peaked at number 25 on the R&B album chart, entered Canada’s Top 40, and registered on Scottish listings; its second side yielded the internationally charting singles “Bra” and “The Message,” with the former becoming a dance-club staple that hip-hop pioneer Kool Herc later featured in his mixes.
After extensive international touring the band reconvened with Schroeder to cut the overtly political Second Time Round, released in 1973, which again performed solidly on both the R&B and Top 200 charts through its signature reggae-and-jazz-funk blend. Further road work alongside Ramsey Lewis and Al Green preceded 1974’s Promised Heights, which retained the nyah-rock aesthetic yet revealed additional debts to Curtis Mayfield, the Temptations, James Brown, and Earth Wind & Fire; the fusion of funky reggae with abstract jazz horns, shaped in part by Joe Harriott, earned strong reviews but no chart placement. Janus subsequently dropped the group. Continued European and British gigs allowed the sound to evolve, culminating in the independently issued 1981 album Arrival on Paul Winley Records, a stylized R&B-and-disco outing that diverged markedly from prior work.
Although Cymande had effectively disbanded, interest revived in the 1990s once “Bra” appeared on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s Crooklyn and additional tracks were sampled by Raze, Master Ace, MC Solaar, De La Soul, DJ Kool, and the Fugees. Late-1990s and early-2000s demand produced three compilations: the British double-CD The Message, which gathered all three original albums; the 13-track The Soul of Rasta; and Renegades of Funk. European touring resumed for several years until the band officially reunited in 2011 with most founding members, including frontmen Scipio and Patterson. Their first album in four decades, 2015’s A Simple Act of Faith, was produced once more by Schroeder and presented a mature, polished incorporation of contemporary R&B and jazz within the group’s dubby soul-funk-reggae-rock framework; though it did not chart, critics praised it and DJs played several cuts in clubs worldwide.
Numerous labels continued to reissue the catalog in remastered editions that often added singles and rare material, sustaining the musicians’ ability to perform and create new work. A decade after A Simple Act of Faith they delivered the dance-floor hit “How We Roll,” again featuring Jazzie B, then issued the full-length Renascence on BMG in late January 2025. Produced by Ben Baptie, the album contained both “How We Roll” and the second single “Only One Way,” a vintage soul track spotlighting Celeste.
Albums
Singles
