About us & Photos

INFOTEXT/BIOGRAPHIE

MARION & SOBO BAND (DE/FR/PL) shuttle back and forth with fascinating lightness between vocal gypsy jazz and swing, chansons and sonorities from Brazil to the Balkans. The French & US-American singer Marion Lenfant-Preus (who was raised in France in a bilingual family) and the Polish guitarist Alexander Sobocinski („Sobo“) and their band present their own compositions, chanson-like songs and sensitive arrangements of folklore melodies that they weave into a very special, beguiling world of sound.

„We travel. We explore. We play“ is their motto. Their international roots, their experiences around the world and their everyday life are the the source of inspiration for their music and the stage is their home. No concert is the same while these talented musicians play/sing with charm, humor, finesse, artistry and enthusiasm to a cross-generational and cross-cultural audience.

MARION & SOBO BAND make us travel the world with each song from a café in Paris, a walk along the Donau, or dancing through the streets of Rio, New Orleans or Buenos Aires. Marion’s love for languages transpires through her music as she sings in french, spanish, english, german, portuguese, albaresh, macedonian and romales. She also uses her multifaceted voice as an instrument for improvisation showing the same dexterity as the instrumentalists playing alongside her. The violin, guitars and double bass combine expressive and sensitive melodies with improvisation. They deliver an energetic and rhythmic sound without using any percussion instrument or drums. Instead, we follow the drive of the percussive guitars and their unique sound reminding us of the Selmer-Macaferri of the 1930s, and sounding both timeless and contemporary.

LINE-UP – The band plays in various line-ups: as a duet, trio, quartet and quintet.

Marion Lenfant-Preus // Vocals (& Guitar, when playing in quartet/trio)
Alexander Sobocinski // Guitar
Stefan Berger // Double bass
Frank Brempel // Violin
Jonas Vogelsang // Guitar

MARION & SOBO BAND has been making music for more than 10 years, naviguating both the jazz and the global music scenes. It has performed concerts with world-renowned gypsy jazz guitarists Joscho Stephan, with Lulo Reinhardt, it plays for smaller as well as bigger crowds in cozy jazzclubs or theaters or festivals such as reknowned worldmusic festivals in Germany: Bardentreffen (Nürnberg) and Horizonte Festival (Koblenz), and also jazz festivals: International Jazzweek Burghausen, Jazzrally Düsseldorf, …. The band has performed abroad at Django Festival Portugal (PL), St Gallen Festival (CH), Graceland Festival (NL) and is looking to meet new audiences around the globe. MARION & SOBO BAND was also chosen by the German cultural office NRW Kultursekretariat for the sponsorship “Musikkulturen” in 2019/2020 and were finalists at the “Creole NRW” competition in 2017.