Meï Teï Shô, whatzo ?…This Japanese term describes the trance-like state induced by an excessive intake of rice. “That is precisely the effect we aimed to produce with our music: a music that evolves in repetitive cycles.” Going over without carrying on, moving on without leaving behind, permanently on the go, anticipating change just below the surface… That is the basic format developed over the last six years, beyond any set rule, far from paths of hype and glory, nearer in fact to the middle of nowhere. These five musicians turn out the type of music that can turn any audience around, whatever the expectations one might have come with. “What we had in mind was not to sit down to play jazz, afro-beat, jungle or anything of one kind or another. All we aim to do is make music. We leave the sticking of labels to those whose job it is to do that”. One can only wish luck to anyone trying to brand Meï Teï Shô with an “appellation contrôlée”. Their sound is a bustling mix of good vibes, a boundary breaking vision of a form off music, guided solely by the wish to create, open onto anything one can imagine - and more. Free jazz in between quote marks, funk in between the lines, with an electronic underline and a bold touch of dub, some afro-rock drumming, but with hip-hop on the undertone, hardcore for its energy base, a trace of m’balax, fragments of folk, of husky soul… Who cares what went into the pot so long as we get to feast our ears on what comes out – and so long as it takes us off into the trance.

Meï Teï Shô, wotzitgot?… No use trying to list the contents of this bubbly performance. No point trying to identify the ingredients of this simmering mix. That precisely is its trade mark: to call on the full spectrum of emotions, from the hottest to the sweetest, and never to serve up the same old stuff. To vary sensations and never let them go flat. To cook up an explosive brew to which everyone contributes their share of mad desire. No ego trips here, no self-centred games there; all you see is a sum total of the personal visions that are the shared stake of this band with horizons as large as their sources of inspiration. If one dared give it a name, one would be tempted to think of the jolly fusion of Fishbone at its early stages. A chance to do in your head while remembering to keep your feet moving all the time. Body and soul in good spirit. The walls of the “Transmusicales” in Rennes , the “Eurockéennes” in Belfort and the “Elysée-Montmartre” must still be oozing the sound. The “Tour de France” they did it backwards and forwards, so much so that they even went beyond it, to Spain and to the Balkans.

Meï Teï Shô, whozit?… First of all Boris and Germain, respectively bass player and drummer, white and black, the core all the other electrons move around. Since 1997 they form the rhythmic pair whose strength and flexibility allows everyone else to reach beyond themselves. Their sense of groove, a spirit that strikes just right, this double, triple beat engine, an engine with as many beats as you like, allows everyone to move on and take off. This striking force is just what it takes to launch them onto the wildest tracks, basic four by fours as well as elaborate beats. That’s just what it takes to give Kostia, at the guitar, that oversized impulse and Jacques at the saxophone the opportunity for his billowing impro. Just what it takes to give Jean’s resolutely off-limits singing, what it takes to carry over the good word, to sound and resound explicit lyrics or chanted phrases in Wolof, in love or in wrath, in waves of sentiment or splashes of humour…. That’s what makes up this strange entity, five-headed hydra, born on the highs of the Croix-Rousse in Lyon, grown in the fertile fields of the alternative scene. Each one coming in with his own background, one with the memory of his Balkan origins, the other with traces of his teenage years in Dakar... Together, they establish a meeting ground, a quality of attention, they built up a repertoire, honed and consolidated with time, without giving up their choices or their singularity, made up of independence of spirit and shared world view. Strongly bonded, they have always invited other musicians for a share of the pie, now as in the past, with friends met onthe road, in recording studios or on various projects… Strong in the knowledge that the only way to know where one is at and to move on is through the meeting of others.