Detor at The Firehouse, Exeter

We had a fantastic gig at The Firehouse last night. It's always fun playing at The Firehouse and last night was no exception: enthusiastic dancing, buzzing atmosphere and a fun audience. We were joined by the talented Ali on vocals who lost no time in whipping the audience up into a frenzy with her versions of 'He's Gone Away' and Belleville Rendevous.

Our top 5 attractions at The Aeon Festival

We had a great time at the Aeon Festival. It's a beautiful festival venue nestled in the countryside near Crediton amongst lakes and trees. The weather was beautiful (well, nothing a stout pair of wellies couldn't fix!) and the atmosphere fantastic. Here are Detor's top 5 attractions from the weekend:

1) Playing on the Caberet Voltaire pirate ship stage with Tango dancers! Our slot was changed from sunday lunchtime to saturday night at the last minute and we seized the opportunity (photos and YouTube footage coming soon). Thanks to an enthusiastic audience, an all-out effort from the band (including our guest singer Ali) and the amazing Tango dancers who we met during rehearsals and who joined us on stage!

2) A fantastic, energetic, late-night set from The Zen Hussies (www.myspace.com/thezenhussies).

3) Jake Morley: an original and fabulous double-bass player (www.myspace.com/jakemorley)

4) The beautiful voice of Lara Conley, accompanied by the didgeridoo talents of Nicks. The Bee song went down particularly well with the hoards of buzzing kids in the audience (www.myspace.com/laraconleymusic).

5) The cool, jazzy sounds of trumpeter Matt Halsall et al, the bluesy, funky soul of HoneyFeet and the Sunday afternoon hangover cure of Lara Conley and Nicks!

Don't miss the Aeon Festival this time next year.

So what is Gypsy Jazz anyway?!

The term Gypsy Jazz (or Jazz manouche) is synonymous with guitarist legend Django Reinhardt (1910-53). Django was foremost among a group of Gypsy guitarists working in and around Paris in the 1930s-1950s. His genius for combining a dark, chromatic Gypsy flavor with driving rhythms, moments of guitar virtuoso and the swing feel of the period led to him pioneering a whole new branch of music. Reinhardt's most famous group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France, also brought fame to jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli.

His approach continues to form the basis for contemporary Gypsy jazz guitar. Detor has it's own take on gypsy jazz but is very much inspired by the genius of Django Reinhardt. Here's a taster:

Detor won the Exeter Street Performers Festival

We really enjoyed the busking festival in Princesshay on saturday and, even better, we won! There were some great acts and lots of people around to watch and vote for their favourite. Buckets of poker chips were handed out to shoppers and cafe goers who then threw them into the collection case of the band they liked the best. The weather was fantastic, people seemed relaxed and cheery (despite the normal saturday shopping chaos) and we gave it our all. We were joined by the wonderful, multilingual vocals of Seb, who always helps to draw in a crowd! This is a clip of our version of Joseph, Joseph:

Exeter Street Performers Festival (and Where's Wally?!!)

Detor are looking forward to The Exeter Street Performers Festival on saturday (11-4pm). The idea is that six pitches will be set within Princesshay to showcase the talents of 15 of the BEST STREET PERFORMERS from around the UK and DETOR will be one of them!

The general public will be given tokens to vote for their favorite act so get your voting shoes on because the winning performer recieves a cash prize of £200 and we, well, would quite like it.


Sadly we've just missed the World Festival of Street Performers in Ireland - maybe next year. Check out their site to see delights such as Rubberband Boy, The Space Cowboy and Bob at Large www.spwc.ie/index.html They also had an attempt to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most amount of people dressed as Where's Wally  so I couldn't resist showing you all this video of it which I know you'll love! 

Gypsy Jazz Rondo Alla Turka

Just found this video on Youtube of a guy playing Mozart's Rondo Alla Turka gypsy jazz style. It's absolutely awesome and I think you'll LOVE it. We might need Micah back on lead guitar to copy this one! Check it out:

Detor, in a barn, somewhere near Abergavenny.....

Our gig in Wales last weekend at Helen and Dave's wedding went down a treat with lots of dancing and merriment. Our new version of the cantina song from starwars went down particularly well with the groom who is a big fan. We'll post our gypsy jazz version on youtube once we manage to edit the video! Keep an eye on our Youtube channel (www.youtube.com/user/detorgypsyjazz). In the meantime, here's the starwars original to keep you amused: