Cymande is a British funk and soul band formed in London in 1971 by musicians from Guyana, Jamaica, and St. Vincent, folding reggae, calypso, and jazz into foundational British funk. Their three Janus albums (1972–74) were sampled by De La Soul, the Fugees, and MF DOOM, and the reunited band returned with Renascence in 2024. Explore Cymande vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Cymande formed in London in 1971 around musicians from Guyana, Jamaica, St. Vincent, and elsewhere in the Caribbean. The original eight-piece released three albums on Janus Records (Cymande, 1972; Second Time Round, 1973; Promised Heights, 1974) before dissolving. Their work was extensively sampled by hip hop producers from the late 1980s onward - De La Soul, the Fugees, Heavy D, MF DOOM, and many others - which significantly amplified the band's legacy across subsequent decades. The original members reunited in 2014 and have released A Simple Act of Faith (2015) and Renascence (2024).
Cymande's sound combines funk, soul, jazz fusion, reggae, calypso, Latin, and African influences in distinctive blend that drew on the broad Caribbean and African diaspora heritage of the band's members. Their work is widely cited as foundational to British funk and as a significant influence on later British soul, broken beat, and acid jazz traditions.
Original Janus pressings of the 1972-1974 Cymande catalog are widely collected as foundational British funk documents. Multiple reissue programs have been issued, including Soul Jazz Records and Partisan reissue programs across the 2010s and 2020s.
Listeners new to Cymande typically start with the self-titled Cymande (1972) or Second Time Round (1973).
