Black Sesame is vocalist, violinist, songwriter and ex-mathematician, Melissa Cox.

Melissa first began writing songs while she was supposed to be writing her PhD thesis; her supervisor pretended not to notice. She continued to write songs after she had (finally) finished her thesis and begun studying jazz performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music; her composition teacher nodded approvingly. So the music drowned out the maths, and now, as Black Sesame, Melissa has completed her debut album, brink, which was released nationally in August 2007.

brink paints landscapes of many colours. The jazz influence is present but understated; probably inevitable considering Melissa has performed internationally as a jazz artist (most recently in Japan and China). But as Black Sesame, it's a darker palette that colours her writing, a palette compiled across years of winters in different cities: stark Edinburgh blue, inner-west Sydney grey, pulsating Bristol black...

Outside Black Sesame, violinist-Melissa has performed and recorded with Jenny Morris (NZ), Afro Moses O'Jah (Ghana), Gervais Koffi and the African Diaspora (Ivory Coast) and Dominique Fraissard (Australia), with whom she has supported Australian bands such as The Waifs and John Butler Trio.

brink sees Melissa combine forces with the production team of Brendan Woithe (programming) and Richard Belkner (engineering), and the musical magic of Cameron Deyell (guitar), Cameron Undy (electric bass), Phil Stack (acoustic bass) and Evan Mannell (drums).