email: info@melodydiachun.com
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TOP 20: !earshot National Jazz Charts for the months of July & August 2018

TOP 10: #9 on the !earshot National Jazz Chart for the week ending July 17, 2018 

NOMINEE: Kootenay Music Awards “Best Blues Song” & “Artist of The Year”, 2018  

NOMINEE: National Jazz Awards “Female Vocalist of the Year”, 2009  

WINNER: Western Canadian Music Awards’ "Outstanding Jazz Recording of The Year”, Altered Laws “Metaphora”, 2008 

RECIPIENT: Creative BC's Career Development Grant, 2018  

RECIPIENT: Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance and Columbia Basin Trust's Touring Grant, 2018  

RECIPIENT: RAWLCO 10K20 Project Recording Grant recipient, 2006   

RECIPIENT: Canada Council for the Arts Short Term Grant, 1994

Short Biography

𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗻 is a 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗢 and 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗝𝗮𝘇𝘇 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 nominated vocalist and songwriter, and “𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧” (CBC Radio) praised for her “𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙚𝙭𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙥𝙝𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚… 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘'𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨” (All About Jazz). Of her 2018 release 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘷𝘦, Melody's fourth album to date, Toronto Music Report says: “𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 – 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚 – 𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙫𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘… ” The album charted on the !𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟮𝟬 Canadian National Jazz Charts for July and August 2018 and 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 #𝟵.

Full Biography

JUNO and National Jazz Awards nominee Melody Diachun is making a name for herself as a talented vocalist and songwriter, and as a warm performer praised for her “soulful confidence, exquisite intonation, phrasing, and sense of time.”(All About Jazz).  

Of her 2018 release Get Back to the Groove, Toronto Music Report says: “She is – and will always be – a force to reckon with in contemporary vocal music… The momentum, clarity, and allure of her voice flow right into the witty narrative…a blend of saucy humour and grace.” The album charted on the !Earshot Top 20 National Jazz Charts for July and August 2018 and peaked at #9.   

Currently in preproduction for her fifth album, Melody is busy writing arrangements that reimagine the repertoire of one of the greatest living songwriters. Music of the yet-to-be-announced songwriter will be reset as everything from straight-ahead jazz versions to classical vignettes, to melodies layered over sophisticated harmonies and world music rhythms. The album will be released in July of 2020.  

Other notable recordings include EQ (Cellar Live) and Metaphora (Artist Jazz Recordings) by Altered Laws that was nominated for a JUNO for 'Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year' in 2008 and won 'Outstanding Jazz Album' at the 2008 Western Canadian Music Awards.   

Born in Montreal and raised in Nova Scotia, Melody remembers, “My father Bill sang and played piano. I sang with him in my first concert when I was seven. I was lucky in that my godfather, Don Hahn, was a recording engineer for A&M and A&R Records.  He sent us vinyl play copies, everything from the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and Chick Corea to Karen Carpenter. I did not separate genres; it all interested me and still does.”Melody had piano lessons at 6, gigged regularly as a singer from the age of 15, and played electric bass and French horn in the high school bands.  

At McGill University in Montreal, she began in the classical department on French horn as the school did not have a vocal jazz program. She had the opportunity to sing with jazz combos where she enjoyed being treated as a musician, eventually becoming the first vocalist admitted to McGill’s Jazz Performance program. 

After graduating she was awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to study privately with the great Sheila Jordan in New York City. Living in Brooklyn, she gained important experience performing at jam sessions and in clubs. After leaving New York, Melody worked for three years in Banff, Alberta, singing seven nights a week.  

In 2000, Melody moved to Vancouver where she was active as a performer for 12 years. A member of the music faculty at Selkirk College in Nelson BC since 2012, she is the program coordinator and teaches singing, songwriting, the business of music, and ensembles.   

Melody was nominated for ‘Female Vocalist of the Year' and the 2009 Canadian National Jazz Awards and for 'Artist of the Year' at the Kootenay Music Awards in 2018 and 2019. An increasingly significant jazz singer with her own sound, style, and approach to creating new music, Melody Diachun is just getting started.   

“A jazz singer of the first order.”– The Times Colonist

“She is – and will always be – a force to reckon with in contemporary vocal music. On the sultry, bluesy music of Get Back to the Groove Miss Diachun lays out the case for her formidable and alluring talent in just five short songs.” – Raul da Gama, Toronto Music Report 

“A jazz singer of the first order." – Joseph Blake, Times Colonist  

"'Sensual' is the word! . . . Melody flows effortlessly between her own compositions and those of others." – Katie Malloch, former CBC host  

“Original material that catches the ear . . . Diachun has a warm, accomplished voice which shows a formidable range.” – Marke Andrews, The Vancouver Sun  

“Unembroidered, pitch-perfect voice.” – Malcolm Parry, Vancouver Sun  

“She has perfect phrasing! It’s scary.” – Kenny Werner, jazz pianist & author  

“Melody Diachun has a voice that might best be described as friendly, warm and inviting. . . . An emerging voice in Canadian jazz. . . . It's a voice easily capable of entrancing the listener. Not overpowering, it has that friendliness that makes listening a relaxing, joyous occasion.” – Calvin Daniels, Yorkton This Week  

"A vocalist fast becoming one of the music's more daring chanteuses . . . this record simmers with emotion almost like a slow burn as the singer continues to showcase exquisite intonation, phrasing and sense of time. . . . Melody Diachun has negotiated her way through this record with soulful confidence and gives notice that her vocal prowess is on the rise and is easy to be mesmerized by." – Raul d’Gama Rose, All About Jazz  

“Vancouver-based Melody Diachun is another fine singer-songwriter with a strong new disc. . . . An appealing mix of funked up jazz and folk . . . Diachun’s controlled, sometimes breathy, centered sound is a perfect foil for the interplay between the other musicians . . . and it all adds up to a tight, cohesive whole.” – Cathy Riches, WholeNote Magazine  

"Melody Diachun teams up with a stellar lineup of fellow Vancouverites . . . playing a repertoire of smart, original songs and clever jazz renditions of modern pop songs. . . . Retro-recorded direct to two-inch tape, the studio sound is warm and funky. Diachun's nuanced readings ride the band's hip, updated fusion, and her understated approach and subtle phrasing mark her as a jazz singer of the first order." – Joseph Blake, Times Colonist  

“Diachun has a warm and expressive voice, her long notes are wonderful and she is expert at placing notes.” – Scott Yannow, All Music Guide  

“Diachun's penchant for selecting and writing adventurous tunes keeps it interesting. . . . All show remarkable vocal dexterity, with Diachun able to toy with the lyrics in a patient manner.” – George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly  

"Vancouver vocalist Melody Diachun straddles pop and jazz forms on EQ, which showcases her songwriting skills on five of the 10 tracks. . . . Diachun’s clear–voiced delivery and adherence to straight melody lines are more Sarah McLachlan than Sarah Vaughan, with the jazz approach coming from her backing quartet . . . Diachun performs fine covers of Paul Simon’s Still Crazy, Joni Mitchell’s Free Man in Paris and Radiohead’s High and Dry, where she shows her considerable range." – Marke Andrews, Vancouver Sun