Des de Moor (Born Ipswich, Suffolk, England, 20 April 1961) is a singer, musician and songwriter. His first performance in front of a paying audience was in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England in June 1976. He worked with local bands and performed in folk clubs in the Hertford area during the late 1970s and 1980s before moving to London in 1985. In 1987 he formed the The Irresistible Force with Morris Gould aka Mixmaster Morris, releasing two singles and several remixes and performing in Britain and the Netherlands. After dissolving his partnership with Gould late in 1989, de Moor re-emerged in 1993 as an acoustic performer specialising in European-influenced chanson, theatre song and musical cabaret. In December 1995 he launched Pirate Jenny's club at the Vortex Jazz Club in London, presenting other artists specialising in this style of music. The club transferred to The Drill Hall, London, in 2004. Apart from Pirate Jenny's, de Moor's best known work to date is Darkness and Disgrace, an adaptation of David Bowie songs in cabaret/chanson style created in collaboration with pianist Russell Churney, originally performed in 2001 and recorded in 2003 (see Darkness and Disgrace: Des de Moor and Russell Churney Perform the Songs of David Bowie. De Moor has worked with chansonniers Barb Jungr, Robb Johnson, Leon Rosselson, pianist David Harrod and double bass player Julia Doyle. He is also a translator who has written accurate English translations of songs by Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Claude Nougaro, Barbara (Monique Serf), Bertolt Brecht and Wannes Van de Velde.
