MELD: prog, funk, jazz, grunge, electronica – fusion
Very Happy New Year 2019 to all our friends – may it bring in a new wave of great music!
We bid farewell to 2018 with a Baroque impro)
Calling loads of new & wonderful music to manifest in 2019!!!
And then welcoming the New Year with New Blues for the New Year – may it be a good one!
Cheers, guys!
All the best to all of you from all of us @ MQ 😉
Season’s Greetings from all of us @ MetaQuorum!
We were thinking what track from the Witchcraft Jazz album should be our next #trackofthemonth and, since the #festiveseason is approaching, it has to be SEVEN DWARFS ROCK! Here it is – #checkitout !
First draft was written and recorded by Victor Mikheyev some years back. The composition was then reworked with synths tracks played by Dmitry Ermakov at jam sessions in Saint Petersburg, Russia and Byala, Varna, Bulgaria. The track was further produced in the UK and was supposed to be included in MetaQuorum’s first album Midnight Sun but it didn’t make the cut, was shelved and revisited again in 2017-2018. We rearranged it, many parts were re-recorded and we included live drums by Koos van der Velde. And of course, we had great fun recording the ‘vocals (more on that later…) Dmitry and Koos mixed it at MetaQuorum’s studio in the North Pennines and then off it went to Houston, Texas, to be mastered by Christopher Longwood at the SugarHill Recording Studios.
So here it is – may your holidays rock!!!
P.S. Here is an archive video from vocals recording session for Seven Dwarfs Rock – laugh with us)))
November’s track of the month is AUTUMN GROOVE from our second album Witchcraft Jazz (2018). It started as a spontaneous drum and key-bass improvisation jam session at Koos ‘ place in Friesland November 2014 (hence the track’s name) after we’d finished re-recording drums for Clodhopping and Midnight Sun, two tracks for MetaQuorum’s first album Midnight Sun (2015). When Koos moved to UK later in 2015-16, we reworked this raw material several times: re-recorded drums, added percussion, plus many layers of synths and arranged it a bit etc. Then, by chance, we met Andrew Guerin at one of the improvisation sessions Newcastle upon Tyne’s The Jazz Cafe . We invited Andrew for a recording session at our Low Bishopley Recording Studio one Sunday in autumn in 2015, and recorded several trumpet takes. It took us three more attempts to mix the track because we couldn’t quite balance the synths and the trumpet and then… along came NATIVE INSTRUMENTS’ Komplete Kontrol! Dmitry revisited the composition and arrangement in the light of the seriously expanded synth and sound processing capabilities, adding some brass as well, so Koos and Dmitry had another go at the mix and got it right – at least in our opinion)) Then Christopher Longwood applied his superb mastering skills and voilà! Check it out 😉
Credits:
Dmitry Ermakov – composition, arrangement, keyboards, key-bass, synth-brass, synth programming, tambourine, recording, producing, mixing, cover art.
Koos van der Velde – composition, #drums, #jembe, recording, producing, mixing.
Andrew Guerin – #trumpet.
Christopher Longwood – #mastering.
© & ℗ Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde, 2017
Photos by Carol Ermakova
In the last couple of weeks MetaQuorum was getting some good reviews in various music magz.
For example, Andrew Howlie of The Pop Break gave Witchcraft Jazz 10 out of 10!
“After listening all the way through, I can’t wait to start again. It’s a dynamite record full of refreshing sounds, melodies, and textures. If you’re into outside-the-box instrumental music with a heavy dose of futuristic improvisation and a mind-melting sound, Witchcraft Jazz is for you.” Full review @ https://thepopbreak.com/2018/04/10/review/
And André de Boer wrote in Dutch Progressive Rock Page – DPRP.net:
“This Witchcraft Jazz album of MetaQuorum is an hour of amazingly crafted tunes in ever changing positive cheer up moods and very addictive. If you think this is not your music, I recommend to listen anyway right now. And if you like #snarkypuppy then I recommend you to listen too! This album is a real must in the jazz rock genre. Highly recommended.” Score 8.5 out of 10. Issue 2018-029 Published: Sunday 6 May 2018 @ http://www.dprp.net/reviews/2018-029
Also, we recently made friends with Warren, owner of Newcastle-upon-Tyne‘s great Hoochie Coochie Dance Club dedicated to soul, funk, jazz & disco. Looking forward to gigging there one day, meantime you can enjoy some Witchcraft Jazz with your evening cocktails when you visit the bar 😉
Since it is #InternationalJazzDay we send our #jazzy greetings to everyone who is into any Jazz of any kind! And it seems a good occasion to look back into the history and mechanics of how our latest album Wicthcraft Jazz came about. So let’s start with the title track Witchcraft Jazz 
The original score which became the foundation for this track was written by Dmitry Ermakov back in 1989 after the “Room 118” jazz funk fusion project he ran with Victor Mikheyev disintegrated due to the turbulent changes and harsh economic realities in the Soviet Union during perestroika. Everything turned upside down and the project (which included some of the best Saint Petersburg, Russia #jazz/ #funk/ #progrock/ #avantegarde #musicians such as #trumpeter Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky, #drummer Roman Dubinnikov etc.) fell apart due to pressures of survival. Dmitry found himself living in a delapidated attic appartment right in the centre of St. Petersburg right as the famous Art-centre “Pushkinskaya 10” ( Арт-центр “Пушкинская-10” ) was being started up by his father’s friend Valery Astrashkin, his childhood friend Tatiana Astashkina and his own father Edward Ermakov). The building had many flats which were slowly being converted into art workshops for various painters and sculptors and Dmitry got a huge five room flat on top for a kind of studio.
He had to sell his Steinway (as there was no way it could be brought up the stairs leading to the attic) but money from the sale got him a good upright piano and a Korg synth. The future looked very bleak for #jazzfunk and #improvisedmusic in Russia then but Dmitry used his time at “Pushkinskaya 10” to write down some ideas (Room 118 project collapsed before they could realise them). At that time Dmitry listened to a great variety of #jazzrockfusion, #funkjazz and #progressiverock, in particular Jazz from Hell by Frank Zappa and electric Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, U.K., King Crimson, Peter Gabriel etc. as well as more avante-garde stuff like Art Ensemble of Chicago and Art Of Noise etc. and… of course, his beloved #baroque composers! So these were the influences flying around the first draft of what was to become Witchcraft Jazz almost 3 decades later! Dmitry wrote this score and several others (some of which also found their way into other tracks in Wicthcraft Jazz album and our first album, Midnight Sun). Lack of money, available musicians, instruments and equipment in post-Soviet Russia meant this off-the-wall music couldn’t be recorded, so Witchcraft Jazz and the rest of the scores were bundled together and put into a folder that travelled with Dmitry for 20 plus years and silently visited UK, Italy, France etc. until they sprang to life when The Spatial Kode, precursor to MetaQuorum project, was born in 2012 as a result of Dmitry and Victor reconnecting by chance thanks to late night internet browsing. So that is a sort of pre-history 
During the preparation and recording of Witchcraft Jazz the score was revised and new musical and technical elements introduced. As for the result, judge for yourselves!
Here at last, our second album Witchcraft Jazz is now out!
We all put a lot of work into it, and we’re all very excited about it being out there now, starting its own independent life in the big wild world.
As well core musicians Dmitry Ermakov and Koos van der Velde, the line-up for this album includes: bass player Victor Mikheyev (who also co-wrote three tracks with Dmitry Ermakov: The Bartender, Swagger and Seven Dwarfs Rock); his son George Mikheyev on cello; Andrew Guerin on trumpet; Carol Ermakova – vocals.
WITCHCRAFT JAZZ was recorded in several studios and venues in the UK, Russia and Bulgaria, produced and mixed by Dmitry Ermakov and Koos van der Velde, and mastered by Christopher Longwood at SugarHill Recording Studios, TX, USA.
In terms of style, this album flows organically from MetaQuorum’s previous compositions, further developing the concept of Meld music, a fusion of Prog,Funk, Jazz, Rock, Swing, Electronica and more. Compositions such as the title track Witchcraft Jazz, Parallax, Limping Mathematician and Autumn Groove further explore the technique of Structural Fusion. The coda – Goldfinch Charm – is an exquisite blend of Electronica with Jazz Fusion and Blues, while the opening track – Crimson Dreams – includes a lyric poem written and read by Dmitry Ermakov.
The new album has got a warm welcome so far, both here in UK and abroad. NARC Magazine ran a feature on our Meld music today:
You can read it here: http://narcmagazine.com/interview-metaquorum/
And Jazz.ru published a press release in English and an in-depth review (Russian only, sorry folks): http://jazzquad.ru/index.pl?act=PRODUCT&id=4876
Tomorrow WITCHCRAFT JAZZ has its very own radio launch with Denis Champagne at Prog Core Radio
Tune in at 22:00 GMT to hear all 12 tracks @ http://progcoreradio.com/
If you have other plans for Friday night, head straight over to our Bandcamp page where you can listen, and download the album, or buy a CD @ https://metaquorum.bandcamp.com/album/witchcraft-jazz
For those of you who get your music through Spotify, please follow ur Artist Page where you’ll find our whole catalogue, including Witchcraft Jazz, of course:
Drop us a line and tell us what you think.
Have a great weekend!
The Big Day has arrived!!
Our second album – Witchcraft Jazz – is now available for pre-order!
We believe good music should be heard at its best, so we are pressing a LIMITED EDITION VINYL, DOUBLE LP, and will be releasing on digital and CD in February.
So what is Witchcraft Jazz all about?
12 tracks – that’s one minute short of an hour! – in the ground-breaking style we call Meld – a blend of jazz, fusion, rock, funk, electronica, even baroque, this double LP includes spontaneous improvisations, funk jams, and creative compositions finished off with state-of-the-art production techniques, and mastered at the famous SugarHill Studios, Houston, USA.
Format: 2x LP 12” (140g) 33rpm, full colour outer sleeve, black inner sleeve.
We need your support!
Don’t forget, we need 100 pre-orders to make this happen, so spread the word. But be quick, the campaign ends 22 Feb, and we can’t guarantee the album will be repressed.
No turntable? No worries! We’re giving a FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD with each LP bought, and you get the original artwork by Dmitry Ermakov.
WITCHCRAFT JAZZ – a breath of fresh air for 2018!
Tracks 2,3,7,8,9,10,12 – written & arranged by Dmitry Ermakov.
Tracks 1, 4 – written & arranged by Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Veld.
Tracks 4,5,6 written & arranged by Dmitry Ermakov & Victor Mikheyev.
Mixed by Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde in Low Bishopley Studio, Weardale, UK.
Mastered by Christopher Longwood in SugarHill Studios, Houston, TX, USA.
Tracks 1, 11 © & ℗ Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde, 2018
Tracks 4,5,6 © Victor Mikheyev & Dmitry Ermakov, 2018 & ℗ Dmitry Ermakov, Victor Mikheyev & Koos van der Velde, 2018
Tracks 2,3,7,8,9,10,12 © Dmitry Ermakov, 2018 & ℗ Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde, 2018.
Artwork and design © Dmitry Ermakov.
Album CAT. № MQN013
Album UPC: 5056052738496
Happy New Year, everyone!
2017 has been a full-on, productive year for us all here at MQ, and the New Year is alreay looking good!
Exciting news for 2018: we’re releasing the new album – Witchcraft Jazz – on vinyl! A limited edition, double LP with funky artwork courtesy of Dmitry will soon be available for pre-order. It’s a limited edition, copies are numbered, so watch this page for the pre-order link as the campaign will only run for 49 days. No turntable? No problem – we’re giving a free digital download with each record bought, and we’ll be making a few CDs, too.
Here’s a sneak preview: Dmitry listening to the final DMM master of a track from Side 1: The Bartender.
Have a great New Year!
Dmitry, Carol, Koos and Victor
MetaQuorum’s new album, WITCHCRAFT JAZZ, is filling up! We now have 7 tracks mixed and mastered, with another three or four in the pipeline.
Track 6, Crimson Dreams, came together pretty quickly, despite Koos and Dmitry getting into the nitty gritty of polyrhythmic sequences.
And it’s one of Carol’s personal favourites.
Track 7 is The Limping Mathematician – forget about polyrhythmic sequences: ‘It’s based on the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, by George Russell, but this one’s gone crazy!” as Dmitry puts it. So much so that we even had to call in an Advanced Maths student to whip up an equation for calculating volume distribution through multi-track instrument groups. Here it is!!
Cheers, Suzanne Lees!
Victor Mikheyev sent us a spacey bass-line recorded in his apartment by the Black Sea in Varna, Bulgaria.
Dmitry used his new Komplete Kontrol S61 keyboard and soft to record a rhythm clavinet for the track.
The new Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S61 is a truly versatile combination of a top-notch keyboard midi-controller and an amazing collection of software instruments, both synths and sampled. While checking the soundbanks and tweaking the various parameters of the instrument, Dmitry spontaneously played this short piece. Fortunately, Carol was nearby and filmed it or it would have been lost because Cubase wasn’t on 😉
And last but not least, a big THANK YOU to all our fans in Brazil for listening in on SoundCloud! Cheers, guys!!
Wishing you all a fun-filled Spring,
MetaQuorum
