Cymande

Described as ‘spiritual … versatile … smooth, sweet and very different’, no-one has yet fully summed up the unique sound of Cymande in one simple word or phrase. Cymande is just simply Cymande.  

A group of black British musicians, who all came to the UK from the Caribbean as children, Cymande released three brilliant albums in quick succession in the early 70s and were embraced in the USA. But in the UK they faced a music business beset by prejudice against home grown black talent and were largely ignored. They originally split in 1975 but their music lived on, as successive generations of artists and fans found and embraced their songs. Hip hop, house, drum and bass, R&B, rare groove and crate digging communities all saw something in the songs of Cymande that inspired them.

Their massive influence can be heard in the numerous samples taken from their albums over the last five decades, from pioneering DJs like DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, to De La Soul, The Wu-Tang Clan, Gang Starr, The Coup, Sugar Hill Gang, Norman Cook/Fatboy Slim and The Fugees -- to name just a few.

Now the Cymande story is being told on the big screen for the first time in cinemas around the world with the heartfelt documentary Getting It Back: The Story Of Cymande. The band will be on tour worldwide in support of the film all during 2024 beginning with their first ever tour of Australia.