Past screening

Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande

Directed by: Tim Mackenzie-Smith
Runtime: 1h 30min Certificate: 12A
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Details

Directed by: Tim Mackenzie-Smith
Runtime: 1h 30min Certificate: 12A
Topics: Music
Last Screened: Tue 27th Feb 2024

Cymande is the greatest band you’ve likely never heard of and this is their incredible untold story.

Formed in south London by musicians who came to the UK from the Caribbean as part of the Windrush generation and led by Patrick Patterson (guitar) and Steve Scipio (bass), they combined jazz, funk, soul and Caribbean grooves to create a new sound.

Despite finding success in the US with their first three brilliant albums, they faced indifference through prejudice at home, became disillusioned and disbanded in 1975. But their music lived on as new generations of artists in the UK and the US discovered, sampled and reworked their pioneering sounds, taking their music to new audiences.

Illustrated with archival footage, the story of these unsung heroes is told on screen through new interviews with the original band members filmed over two years.