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Mederic Collignon: Shangri-Tunkashi-La
Louis Sclavis
woodwindsb.1953
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
Material culled exclusively from Davis's late-1960s/early-1970s electric period is distanced from the plethora of electric tributes cropping up over the past several years by a number of key factors. Despite being a fine trumpeter, Collignon—whose reputation for being something of a absurdist madman—often uses his voice as the primary instrument, replacing Davis' signature horn on "Shhh Peaceful / It's About That Time" with wordless vocals ranging from melodically reverent to piercing screams so high in the stratosphere that it's hard to believe they're from a human voice. Some of what he does could be called scatting, but Collignon is more unfettered, as he occasionally digresses into tangential utterances, and garbled and guttural strange-speak.
Collignon's expansion of his core quartet with a four-piece horn section also gives Shangri its fresh outlook. Few jazz arrangers, outside of 
Vince Mendoza
composer / conductor
b.1961
Joe Zawinul
keyboards
1932 - 2007
The high octane "Ife," and equally fiery "Interlude" (first heard on Agharta (Columbia, 1975), but sporting a riff that Miles would revisit in the decades that followed) give his group plenty of opportunity to ratchet up the intensity...and the volume, with the quartet as comfortable pushing a visceral groove as it is diving into freer territory. Equally, Collignon knows how to pace himself, and his program. "Mademoiselle Mabry," from Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968), is a rarely chosen cover; a lyrical tone poem that sets up the album's most oblique choice—Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," which closes the 66-minute set. That this thunderous, eastern-tinged rocker fits so seamlessly into the rest of the program only serves to demonstrate a cross-over potential Miles always had, regularly aspired to, but never quite achieved in his lifetime.
Gritty, virtuosic playing from a hard-edged group that knows how to kick it hard yet play it soft and subtle when required make Shangri-Tunkashi-La a fusion fest that's impossible to ignore. Add to that Collignon's forward-thinking yet sonically retro arrangements and liberal doses of impish sardonicism, and the result is a homage to electric-era Miles Davis that easily stands amongst the best of them.
Track Listing
Billy Preston; Bitches Brew; Early Minor; Shhh Peaceful / It's About That Time; Ife; Interlude; Nem Um Talvez; Mademoiselle Mabry; Kasmir.
Personnel
Mederic Collignon
cornetMédéric Collignon: pocket trumpet, Fender Rhodes 88, percussion, voice, arrangements; Frank Woeste: Fender Rhodes 73, effects, voice; Frédéric Chiffoleau: double-bass, electric bass, voice; Philippe Gleizes: drums, voice; Fran?ois Bonhomme: horn; Nicolas Chedmail: horn; Philippe Bord: horn; Victor Michaud: horn; The White Spirit Sisters: vocals (4).
Album information
Title: Shangri-Tunkashi-La | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Plus Loin Music
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Mederic Collignon Concerts
Collignon / Bussonnet / Monniot
Le TritonLes Lilas, France
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