MELD: prog, rock, funk, jazz, grunge, electronica – fusion
1-2-3… celebrating 1st anniversary of the 2nd album – gearing up for Number 3!
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6oeC0Cjkvo3YnPB5on1Mkh
Bandcamp: https://metaquorum.bandcamp.com/album/witchcraft-jazz
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/metaquorum/sets/witchcraft-jazz
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/album/56017492
and everywhere else 😉
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
All About Jazz and Blues has published an interview with Dmitry Ermakov today. The Story of the Day at the same site is Miles Davis - so we are chuffed by this coincidence :)
All About Jazz and Blues has published an interview with Dmitry Ermakov today. The Story of the Day at the same site is Miles Davis – so we are chuffed by this coincidence 🙂 Miles says: “We’re not going to play the blues anymore. Let the white folks play the blues. They got ’em, so they can keep ’em.” Well, thanks, Miles – we’ll keep it up :))) Follow the link to read the interview. Listen to MetaQuorum to keep cool and, also, drink loads of liquid to stay hydrated in this heatwave 😉
Follow the link below to read the interview:
http://jazzbluesnews.space/2018/07/26/dmitry-ermakov/
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!
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
Midnight Sun (Remastered) was released on 18 June through all our usual digital distribution channels. And we are waiting for a bunch of limited edition CDs to arrive later next week. Why the need for Remaster? , you may ask. Well, the original master wasn’t really loud enough and it didn’t have this ‘big sound’ we developed for the 2016 releases. So Dmitry decided to remaster the album so that it comes closer to this new sound. We think it was a success. The tracks sound bigger and more 3D with many nuances coming to the fore. Give it a listen and see for yourself 🙂
http://metaquorum.bandcamp.com/album/midnight-sun-remastered
Cheers,
MQ
News Flash: MetaQuorum now has a squeaky new profile on Tidal @ http://listen.tidal.com/artist/6360894 🙂
Koos shared his treasure trove of vintage microphones – great collection, including a Tesla AMK 102 and an Astatic Model K-2.
Here’s Dmitry checking out a Krundaal Dynamic Cardioid Microphone Mod. 607. We used it for the low frequencies in a recent session to record percussion for a new track.
For the top side of the drum we used a Samson Q4. Quite a cheap mic, but stuck into a convenient hole in a chair back, it did the job. In fact, the whole set-up was pretty makeshift, as you can see! Improvisation? We love it! 😉
Koos playing his vegan Djembe – custom built by his Dad! @ Market Place Studio, North Pennines, UK.
MetaQuorum is #4 in UK Jazz Charts on Reverbnation!
https://www.reverbnation.com/main/charts?artist_id=4266566&genre=Jazz&genre_geo=National
MetaQuorum 