WESTERN SPECIAL AT DROGA DO MEKKI

24 AUGUST 2004

Western Special have almost ten years' experience. At the beginning in '95, the line-up consisted of four musicians. They quickly began performing and won the admiration of French reggae/ska fans. The excellent reception of their live shows encouraged the band to expand with further instrumentalists.

A turning point early in their career came in ’97, when they played a Paris concert with New York Ska Jazz Ensemble. Soon afterwards, they independently released 500 copies of a demo. A year later, they already had an official release to their name, “Road To Roots”. The album brought them considerable attention among fans at home, and Western Special gradually became a calling card for the French rocksteady scene. Its first pressing sold out very quickly.

After a two-year break, the “Specialists” entered the studio with a new singer and recorded another excellent album, “Hot Jamaican Mixture”. It proved their greatest commercial success to date, outselling every other Western Special album, and an artistic success too: its tracks appeared on several reggae/ska compilations, including “Ska Trad vol. 1” and “Dub Odyssey”. The “Hot Jamaican Mix Tour” marked the start of Western Special’s international performances. Beginning in Switzerland, it ended with another Paris concert alongside a star, this time The Skatalites. After the tour of more than 100 concerts ended, the singer left the group.

The mini-album “Cd of Miles and Crowdes” brings changes to the French band's music, with touches straight from the sixties. Around the turn of 2001 and 2002, Western Special travelled through Europe and played Poland for the first time. They also toured Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Spain and Belgium.

Their next album, “Moonlightin”, revealed a distinctive sound developed through numerous concerts and hours in the studio. Combined with a stable line-up, this produced an already recognisable style. The album was released by several European labels. Western Special’s Wrocław concert will offer another opportunity to get closer to French music on the border of reggae and rocksteady: Jamaican tradition once again adorned with French, a language that fits it perfectly.

Western Special online: www.western-special.com