Bra - Cymande

cymande
Originally uploaded by 50pbloke.

Fantastic slice of 70s Brit funk by Cymande. It's that light, intricate funky picking, skittering drumming and percussion, sparse bass, that is so infectious. Hard to hum, but stays in your head. There's so much space in there.

Soul Patrol says:

Cymande, pronounced (Sah-mahn-day), released three LPs under the Chess Records Janus subsidiary from 1972 - 1974 ... Cymande is the most underrated overly sampled band in the world. The band Cymande consisted of eight
rastafarian musicians who played a dazzling mixture of funk, soul, reggae and jazz. The members of Cymande migrated to England from the West Indies at a young age. The resulting music they created is invigorating and lyrically positive. The name Cymande means "dove of peace" and most of the band's messages are uplifting and reminiscent of a time when funk wasn't just music, it was also a movement.

"Nyah-rock" was how they described their music, a blend of soul, reggae and Afro-funk. They were based in Brixton, but never really bothered the charts, despite support from John Peel and, er, Tony Blackburn. They did, however, tour America with Al Green and Bra became a big hit in the New York clubs of the late 70s. According to Fat City, there exisits an eight-minute version of Bra edited by Danny Krivit. Wow, I'd like to hear that.

Crucially for many of us of a certain age, Bra was sampled by De La Soul on 3ft High and Rising. To my ears Bra sounds not unlike Fools' Gold by The Stone Roses. I bet they would sound great mixed together.

But why was it called Bra? I feel we must be told.

cymande