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Rooted in the Gypsy Jazz/Gypsy Swing and Latin Swing styles, this high-energy, acoustic-based quintet of guitar, violin, standup bass, percussion and keyboards (including accordion), showers audiences with upbeat tunes from around the world, thunderous virtuosity, and a relentless sense of humor.
Bringing together the eclectic sounds are a motley crew of talented musicians from Venezuela, Serbia, Austin, Boston, Iowa, and Southern Georgia.
If one were to name one Savannah-based musical act that most exemplifies this time-honored, eclectic and adventurous city, they’d be hard to find a more appropriate ambassador than Velvet Caravan.
Their unique ability to subtly shift musical gears without sacrificing their integrity as composers and performers is rare indeed.
This has resulted in an envelope-pushing group that’s just as successful at dazzling jaded cocktail drinkers as they are at commanding the rapt attention of serious music aficionados in whisper-quiet recital environments. Of late, the band has even taken things a step further, by mesmerizing and inspiring even the most finicky of schoolchildren through fun and engaging music educational programming.
“Gypsy Jazz is the root of our sound and style, but we are far from being a traditional band in that genre,” explains the group’s co-founder, classically trained Venezuelan-born violinist Ricardo Ochoa.
“We try to describe ourselves as a Gypsy Swing Band or Gypsy-Latin-Swing Band, or Gypsy-Tonk-Latin-Swing Band, or Southern-Gypsy-Tonk-Latin-Swing Band, or simply ‘European Redneck Music with a Classical Influence,’” he says with a chuckle. That laughter openly acknowledges the challenging nature of easily categorizing a group with such a wide and non-traditional array of musical and cultural influences.
“None of these styles are intentional,” adds Ochoa. “They’re simply a reflection of who we are individually.”
