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Melaine Bong was born in Munich as the daughter of a baltic-prussian painter and a sinto (gypsy) singer-musician. As a young child, Melaine would create her own short compositions and lyrics about everything that emotionally moved her and express those feelings in song . At 15 years old she created her first band called the ‘Melaine Bong Crew’ (MBC) playing her original songs. Melaine was fortunate to then study Jazz, directly learning from some of the best-known jazz vocalists, namely; Shelia Jordon, Jay Clayton, Andy Bey and the great Mark Murphy.
Melaine has released two previous albums – Fantasia in 2002 and Gypsy Dream in 2006. Her third and latest album release is titled: Gypsy Fire which also features Lulo Reinhardt. Who has an equally impressive musical pedigree, being the great-nephew of jazz legend Django Reinhardt and also the nephew of the gypsy violin master Shnuckenack Reinhardt.
The album is stylistically interesting. With a fusion of musical genres; Latin, traditional jazz, funky and expressive ballads. The free interplay between Melaine Bong and Lulo Reinhart’s guitar playing is extremely impressive. All tracks are rightly placed, allowing for a flow that keeps you connected for the duration of the whole album. Throughout this album, there is a clear underpinning of the deep passion and pride emanating from their collective Sinti Gypsy musical and cultural heritage. Very re-refreshing to experience when we live in a world with too much negative social polarization.
Release Date: 27 September 2019
Format: CD | Digital
Label: Dmg Germany
Last modified: March 25, 2020
