Extraordinary pianist and composer Lubomyr Melnyk has a new album on the way called Fallen Trees coinciding with his 70th birthday. He had previously enticed us with the magnificent ‘Son of Parasol’  and now we can listen to the second single ‘Barcarolle’. Take a listen below and grab the album when it drops on December 7th through Erased Tapes.

Just as he turns 70, extraordinary pianist and composer Lubomyr Melnyk is back with a new album called Fallen Trees, arriving on December 7th through Erased Tapes. As with previous efforts, Fallen Trees remains laced with the environment, taking inspiration from a rail journey Melnyk made through Europe, where while looking out the window, he caught sight of trees that had just been felled. They looked “glorious” to him. “Even though they’d been killed, they weren’t dead. There was something sorrowful there, but also hopeful.”  This dark and melancholic yet bright and promising feel permeates the album in equal parts.

To bring the album to life, Melnyk enlisted Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths as producer. Fallen Trees also features guest contributions from vocal artist Hatis Noit, cellist Anne Müller, and singer David Allred.  “More than any of the albums that I’ve done”, described Melnyk, “it’s a real collaboration.”

The magnificent ‘Son of Parasol’ is the first single to emerge and you can listen to it now.

There’s a release on Erased Tapes later this month that we’re really looking forward to – that of Ukranian composer and pianist extraordinaire Lubomyr Melnyk and his new full-length album Rivers and Streams. Known as one of the world’s fastest pianist, Melnyk employs a piano technique called ‘Continuous Music’, which he developed in the 1970s. Also referred to as the “kung fu” technique, it allows him to create an uninterrupted wave of notes that can reach 19 notes on each hand per second. In Rivers and Streams, Melnyk laces the flow of water with the flow of music. Here’s what said about it:

“In the body of the Continuous Piano Master, the fingers and the hands turn into Water, Air and Stone. These are the three manifestations of the Continuous Technique. And for the Continuous Pianist, the fingers physically transform the music into one of these three elements.

The greatest of all miracles in the universe is Water. It is also, I believe, the rarest of all physical things in the universe. Water is the most magical and the most mysterious of all things we know! And so I dedicate this album to the Rivers and Streams of this world – in gratitude for their Beauty!”

An excerpt of the magnificent opening track ‘Parasol’ is now available to stream. Listen to it below and grab Rivers and Streams when it drops on November 27th.