Album Notes

Noel Quinlan's musical journey through the Middle Kingdom began in 1990 when he was based in Hong Kong and producing music for Star TV and MTV-Asia.
At that time a huge amounts of Western music and entertainment were pouring into Asia with nothing very much going the other way. With an ambition to redress the balance Noel decided to introduce ancient Chinese melodies to a world-wide audience, using Western sensibilities, harmonies, and arranging and production techniques.
Nothing quite like this had been attempted in such depth, and extensive research was needed to uncover the best melodies, the best players and singers, and the best way to combine all elements into the most attractive result.
Middle Kingdom II was recorded concurrently with a large-scale theatre piece, "Tales From The Middle Kingdom", which was produced by Noel featuring modern Chinese dance.
More of his original compositions began to appear at this time, with film and television producers making good use of Noel's unique cross-over approach. These included the TV series "Yan Can Cook".
The Middle Kingdom series continues to be collected by many fans all over the world, and is now up to Middle Kingdom IV, with the fifth CD in the series to be released mid-2004.