Winston Mc Anuff

The Jamaican singer is about to shake Paris city with the members of JAVA in a piece mixing reggae, soul and musette accordion.

October 2005 – Winston McAnuff was touring France to promote his latest record, A Drop.

Arranged by Camille Bazbaz and Yarol Poupaud (FFF), A Drop was the first record "made in France" produced by Makasound, a label that specializes in Jamaican reissues. It proves that Winston's magic voice fits much more than just reggae and it also opens new horizons for a young label seeking to venture into musical strange lands.

R-Wan (Java's singer) just recently got signed to Makasound for his first solo album (Radio Cortex). He spurred them into arranging four nocturnal recording sessions. The principle was simple: bring together musicians and friends, provide food and drinks… and turn those jam sessions into party-like mini-concerts. Different musicians would be step in with Winston and Fixi (Java's accordion player) – the latter acting as a conductor.

The sessions gave birth to about 15 raw pieces. But the task was far from over. In June, Fixi put on his artistic director suit and shut himself away with director Lucas Chauvière (-M-, Java). Together, they pruned, cut down, edited out and eventually selected 11 songs that they turned into tracks. They added violins, brass, percussions, accordions, and so on.

Two great musicians then gave the final touch:
The Congos (legendary reggae trio and friends of Winston) were visiting Paris. They seized the opportunity to do some backing vocals on four tracks.
-M- is a friend of Fixi. He played guitar on nine tracks.

Finally, after Lucas Chauvière mixed it, Winston McAnuff's latest album was born. It would be called Paris Rockin'.

It takes after 70's soul music more than reggae, but as is stated in its title, Paris Rockin' is determinedly rock and it smells of Parisian sidewalks. Deep, unique, at times dark but never compromising, this album is yet another proof of the Electric Dread's huge talent.