Band, 1917 – [?] 

Cape Verdean Ultramarine Band Club was a pioneer musical group in the Cape Verdean community in the U.S. (until then, the musical activities were simply informal). 

Born in 1917 in New Bedford with the sponsorship of a group of Cape Verdean entrepreneurs and of the Cape Verdean Beneficent Association. It was a band based in wind instruments and with repertoire based on military marches, what at the time was considered “street music”, in opposition to dance music. In that capacity, participated frequently and stood out in parades and events alluding to festive dates.  

Initially with 17 members, among Cape Verdeans, Azoreans and Madeirans, the band, according to Ron Barboza’s book A salute to Cape Verdean musicians and their music (1989), reaches about 100 members around 1930.  

It it not clear when the musical group became extinct, but the book informs that from 1930 a section of dance music was created which came to be the Skyliners Big Band. 

The club that hosted the Cape Verdean Ultramarine Band Club and that was named after the band, still exists on Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford, and its hall has served over decades for performances by Cape Verdeans groups and artists.  

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