Cymande at Varsity Theatre 2.19.25
Wednesday night's Cymande show at Dinkytown's Varsity Theater was a breathtaking display of funk.
Though the band got started in the early 70's London soul scene, several of the original members were of Caribbean descent and brought percussive island vibes to their sound. They toured stateside with Al Green and had a couple of hits but have remained largely underappreciated in the decades since, both at home in England and here.
A Spotify playlist of songs that sample the band has over 50 tracks on it,
including The Fugees' 'The Score' which sampled the unmistakable 'Dove' without permission, resulting in a lawsuit and eventual royalty payments. (Cymande means Dove in Calypso).
Founding members Patrick Patterson (guitar, vocals, organ) and Stephen Scipio (bass) are still with the band, as are prominently featured percussionist Pablo Gonsales and sax player Derek Gibbs. The sprawling, nine piece current incarnation of Cymande also includes drums, a second sax, trumpet, and keys. The show was highlighted by the aforementioned 'Dove' and 'Bra', another heavily sampled horn laced jam.
The band played Minneapolis as the 5th of only 10 stops in the US and will play across Europe in the coming months.
The Times had a great story on their resurgence recently:
https://www.nytimes.com/.../music/cymande-renascence.html...
