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The New Single from Dave Orban & the Mojo Gypsies!

The Trouble With You

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ROCKIN’ RHYTHM & BLUES

Based in the Central Jersey/Greater Philly area, Dave Orban & the Mojo Gypsies are a high-energy quartet that play a unique blend of danceable, up-tempo blues and old-school R&B, with a touch of soul and a little New Orleans funk. Founded in 1998 by International Blues Hall of Fame inductee Dave Orban on guitar and vocals, the Gypsies feature Mike Scott on tenor sax along with Mike DeMonte on drums and vocals, and an exciting roster of bassists and keyboard players, depending on the requirements of the gig. 

What’s New?

The global pandemic that began in 2020 has wreaked havoc with working musicians all over the world, and the Mojo Gypsies are no exception.

Our last pre-pandemic gig was on March 13, 2020, and since then, we’ve had a total of 3 live-and-in-person gigs. That’s quite a reduction from the 5 or 6 montly gigs that would have been the norm in the days Before Covid.

Of course, the creative impulse is not easily deterred, so a lot of that “extra” energy has been redirected toward creating new music. Several new songs have already been written, and we’re now in the process of arranging and recording them. Out new single, “The Trouble With You”, has just been released and this one marks quite a musical departure for us. I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think about it, as we get ready to record yet more new songs.  Looking forward to seeing you – in the real world – sooner than later! Stay tuned, and stay healthy!

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Some Random Thoughts

Building My First Guitar

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My first electric guitar was a Harmony Rocket; a red-burst, with 2 gold-foil pickups and a poor excuse for a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. It was a bolt-neck, with a rather beefy neck, and skinny frets. My parents bought it for me when I was about 12 or 13, a year after I had begun taking […]

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Talking About Songwriting: “Trouble-Makin’ Woman”

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In yet another installment of my occasional “Talking About Songwriting” blog, let’s take a look at “Trouble-Makin’ Woman,” another track from our recently-released CD, “I Heard You Twice the First Time.” Everybody knows one: The irrepressible flirt. They come in all shapes, sizes… and genders. Generally speaking, a person flirts to gauge the interest of […]

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About the Mojo Gypsies

Based in the Central Jersey/Greater Philly area, Dave Orban & the Mojo Gypsies are a high-energy quartet that play a unique blend of danceable, up-tempo blues and old-school R&B, with a touch of soul and a little New Orleans funk. Active since 1998, founder Dave Orban is an inductee into the International Blues Hall of Fame, and has performed with or supported such national acts as James Harman, Debbie Davies, Rick Estrin and the Nightcats, Lucky Petersen, Nathan James, Steve Guyger, Murali Coryell, and Selwyn Birchwood.

Led by Orban on guitar and vocals, the Gypsies feature Mike Scott on tenor sax along with Mike DeMonte on drums and vocals, and a roster of bassists and keyboard players, depending on the requirements of the gig. Influences ranging from Willie Dixon to Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones and even Norah Jones can be heard in Orban’s original tunes. His songs are self-contained stories in their own right, and cover a variety of topics that can be both humorous as well as more serious.

So if you’re ready for some high-energy, sax-driven blues and R&B sounds, check us out!

Meet the boys in the band

Dave Orban

Mojo Gypsies founder, guitarist, and  vocalist Dave Orban is a B2B technology marketing executive by day, a musician and artist by night. Orban’s main gigging guitar is a P90-equipped ’53 Gibson ES-175 (blonde, of course!), followed closely by a ’64 Gibson ES-330. He also regularly uses a collection of custom-built parts Teles, usually with a P90 in the neck position. All are typically plugged straight into a ’96 Matchless Chieftain 1×12 combo, or a Two-Rock Studio Signature.

Mike Scott on sax

Mike Scott‘s musical journey point has taken some wild turns down some very weird roads. For the purposes of brevity and levity, the trip began at Mansfield University where he formed a jazz fusion band called “Mister Hyde” with Jeff Michael, aka “Flourtown Fats.”

Mike graduated in 1991 with a Music Education degree, and went on to teach music and drama in Wilmington. In ’95, he left Wilmington for Boston where he earned his Master of Music degree in Saxophone Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music.

In ’97, he returned to Philly taking a day gig at a local school district teaching Music, Drama and of all things, History. Since he’s been back, he has published three books related to music performance and jazz theory. He even got a Ph.D. in Education (with an emphasis on music… of course) in 2004!

Based in Philadelphia PA, Mike DeMonte began playing with the Gypsies in 2018. An accomplished musician and music educator by training, DeMonte has also been seen playing drums behind some of the Philly area’s finest jazz musicians, including Sonny Troy, Jack St Clair, Kelvin Nathaniel, Bill Shilling, Orland Fiol, Drew Nugent, and Jimmy Bruno, among others.