David Dalle
Thursday October 10th, 2024 with David Dalle
30 for 30 with Lubomyr Melnyk; music from Zimbabwe, Senegal, Cuba and more!

Continuing the celebration of my 30 years on-air at CKCU with 30 of the most significant albums in my musical evolution. This week, we will one of the most significant artists in my musical universe, but also one of the most obscure. Lubomyr Melynk was born in Ukraine in 1948 but immigrated to Canada as a child. He encountered the piano at a young age and became entranced. He felt that whole worlds could be created on the piano. He was hit by an almost mystical revelation when he first heard Terry Riley’s “In C” in 1968. In the 70's he was working as piano accompanist for an experimental dance company. With Riley's musical cells in his mind, he began working on a new, improvised and spontaneous way to accompany the dancers. He began playing rapid cascades of notes with the sustain peddle held down, so many overtones would be created, making an enormous and rich sound world. He began composing and performing what he termed "Continuous Music", with his first album released in 1979. Unfortunately, the music world took no notice of his unique, unparalleled music. He performed in small underground venues, releasing small runs of independent albums, only on vinyl, as he believed only vinyl captured the spatial resonance of the overtones accurately. In 1985 he released one of his most fabled albums "The Song of Galadriel". I first heard a two minute excerpt from this album in a music course at Carleton University in 1995. It was one of the most beautiful and astonishing things I had ever heard. The album was extremely rare, and I ended up listening to it at the University of Ottawa's music library. I had to listen to it on-site, as it was not permitted to check out this rare vinyl. It was magical. By this time, Melnyk had moved to Sweden, where he taught his music and continued to perform when and where he could. I finally got a chance to hear him live in Toronto in 2003 (and I have a professional, private recording of that concert). I saw him again around 2005 at Queen's University where I had the chance to meet and talk with him. I also finally got a copy of "Song of Galadriel" and a few other lps from him. After working continuously on the edges of the music world for several decades, he finally started getting noticed in the 2010's. He made several recordings for Erased Tapes in the UK and several other independent labels and also started playing to packed concert halls. The past decade has shown him performing and touring throughout Europe with audiences finally hearing his music as it always was: an impossibly beautiful and spiritual experience. Melnyk has also been touring the length and breadth of his Ukrainian homeland and, since Putin's criminal invasion, has been a tireless advocate for Ukrainian freedom and culture.