Co-Presented by KALW

Cymande is the most important black British group of their generation, a band so many people have heard,but yet not“heard of.”In the early 1970’s in South London, a group of black musicians, who all emigrated to the UK from the Caribbean as children, formed the group. Led by Patrick Patterson (guitars, vocals) and Steve Scipio (bass, vocals) Cymande was so unique and ahead of its time that, not with standing the success in the States in the early ‘70s, it hasn’t been until recent years that the general public has truly begun to catch on. Their first three albums: Cymande (1972), Second Time Round (1973) and Promised Heights (1974) combined jazz, funk, soul, and Caribbean grooves to create a unique sound of their own; music that was both political and spiritual.