Page 27 - International Salsa Magazine ED 85 Jan 2018.cdr
P. 27

United States Of America / Singers & Groups                                                    www.salsamundi.com


 At the age of 14, the interpreter born in   During the 90s, Melina and other music
 San Juan de Puerto Rico lived an experience   professionals created the rst salsa
 that marked her life since then. She moved   orchestra in Memphis called "La Orquesta
 with her mother to Memphis, Tennessee,   Caliente". With this band toured places like
 leaving behind her culture and family,   Alanna, Kentucky and Alabama.
 which caused an emotional shock and   They played at such iconic venues as Beale
 made her take full refuge in the music.   Street, one of the most famous music
 streets in all the US for almost 4 years, just
 "Salsa saved my life."   as they did at Young Ave Deli, a place that
 lled to its maximum capacity just to hear
 The Salsa is my way of   them sing and play Salsa every Monday. In

 life. It’s my way   this regard, Melina told me: "That's when I
 started singing Salsa. That's when I fell in
 of breathing, of   love with salsa and I wanted to continue
 doing things ".  being a professional Salsa singer.”



 "We moved to a very white place to an   In 2003, she began her musical career as an
 extremely American place. The south of the   independent soloist with her rst album
 US is a very different place from New York   Rumba's Salsa Soul Delight, where she
 or Florida. There are not many Latin people   exhibited her creative freedom to compose,
 and for me it was very hard ... I started   work with other people in the music
 studying music at the High School. I got   industry and create her own identity in this
 into all the choirs that I could and all the   tropical genre. So, her second álbum was
 bands in the school where I could be",   La Muñeca De La Salsa Y Más (2008) and
 told me Melina.  Pasión y Salsa Live in 2013.


 This Puerto Rican composer not only
 prepared in salsa, also studied different
 musical styles: Blues, Jazz and Gospel. What
 made her race for only 3 years at the
 University of Memphis the career of Musical
 Execution. Studies that she decided to
 abandon for working at the same time as a
 receptionist and translator for the City
 Council and also to continue pursuing her
 dream of singing Salsa professionally. "I
 decided to quit my university studies
 because I was really doing what I wanted
 to do: that was to be a singer... I thought it
 was better to leave school and nothing has
 gone wrong, I have continued doing
 everything at that moment, but on a
 slightly larger scale and for me it was the
 right decision", commented Amodóvar.



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