Blowing in the wind
Trumpeter Danny DePoe says whether it's luck or fate that has brought him to Hong Kong, his life and music are falling into place
The seasoned punters who stalk the gaming halls of Macau are fond of leaning into your ear late at night and saying: "In life, son, you make your own luck." But Danny DePoe likes to share the credit for his own luck around.
Backtrack a few years and things were going according to plan for the Canadian musician. He had a cosy regular gig at an Italian restaurant in his native Toronto that was helping to fund the recording of an album, but when a new owner cut the restaurant's music programme, his life was suddenly left in limbo.
The idea is not to be limited. Audiences here are really receptive to that and they allow you as a performer to just go where the mood might take you.
"Two days later and a call comes in saying that someone is looking for a trumpet player - and the first one who says yes, gets the gig," he says.
Needs must, as they say, and DePoe not long after found himself on stage at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel's Bellini Lounge playing to the masses but looking around for opportunities at the same time.
"This was late 2011 and I started coming over to Hong Kong on my days off and exploring the scene over here. And that's how things all started," he says. "One thing led to another. Maybe it was luck. Most people would say it was fate or circumstance, but things have fallen into place."
The past two years have seen DePoe explore the outer limits of the music scene here, from gigging alongside fiancée Geneviève (Gigi) Marentette at the Four Seasons' Blue Bar, to mixing in all manner of influences when he takes control at places as diverse as the Mira hotel and Honi Honi Tiki Cocktail Lounge, sessions that can see the Canadian lean on his jazz background on trumpet, guitar and vocals, while weaving in live loops as he brings in his pop, rock and soul influences.
"The idea is not to be limited," says DePoe. "I think audiences here are really receptive to that and they allow you as a performer to just go where the mood might take you. That way I can play around with all the things I am into and really explore the sound."