Excited to be joining up with Pittsburgh’s fantastic Boilermaker Jazz Band to sing at CUALX (Catholic University of America Lindy Exchange) this Friday, March 21, 2014! My husband, trombonist Lucian Cobb, and I will be filling in for regulars Gerry and Jennie.
It’s a college Lindy exchange, but we hope the college kids and the rest of the DC swing dance community will come swing out!
On the heels of Lindy Focus, I will be making another appearance with Los Angeles’ own Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five at the Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout in Denver, Colorado, for two nights of performances, February 21 and 22, 2014. I have enjoyed DJ’ing this event in the past and am excited to return as a part of the live music for the weekend. Denver is such a fun place to visit – looking forward to dancing, singing, and dinner and cocktails at Steuben’s. 😀
The Mint Julep Jazz Band‘s first gig was on February 23, 2012 at an RDU Rent Party swing dance, which we decided to live stream primarily because one of our friends was in the hospital and requested it. It was a great idea and, not only was our friend able to tune in, 79 other people did, as well!
We are excited that the band has seen success over the past two years and to commemorate our second anniversary we will live stream our February 1, 2014 show at the Triangle Swing Dance Society swing dance in Durham, NC!
To tune in, visit our UStream channel on February 1 any time from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mint-julep-jazz-band
Lindy Focus was such a tidal wave of positive energy this year – even though I didn’t have a lot of down time, all that energy kept me going and going! I got to work with some of the most amazing musicians and dancers, and even spin some tunes in the Balboa room. 🙂 It was an honor to be invited to be in the New Year’s Eve show, done to live music for the first time, and to work with Evita Arce, who is the creative genius who put together the show from scratch. It was a pleasure to perform with Jonathan Stout and his all-star band of musicians – the energy from the band performances was immense and infectious!
I’ve posted below my contributions to the New Year’s Eve show – a recreation of the Duke Ellington Short “Bli Blip” with whiz kid Jon Tigert and a performance of “Sunny Side of the Street” featuring tapper extraordinare Mike Herring – and a version of “Me Myself and I” performed with Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five. Campus Five first:
The Mint Julep Jazz Band is performing at Housing for New Hope‘s inaugural Rent Party on November 23, 2013 at The Cookery in Durham – this is a fundraiser for an organization that actually helps people pay their rent to help prevent homelessness, among other services to help people in need of housing and prevent homelessness in Durham. There will be dancing, food, an open bar, and the chance to help people in our community, all with a rent party/jazz age theme. Come help us raise the rent for the fine people of Durham!
Tickets and information available at http://durhamcookery.com/rent-party.
Live from American Tobacco!
To sweeten the deal, the Mint Julep Jazz Band has been invited to appear on WUNC’s The State of Things, hosted by Frank Stasio, on November 22, 2013 to help promote Housing for New Hope‘s inaugural Rent Party on November 23, 2013 at The Cookery in Durham (see post below). Tune in from noon to 1:00 p.m. to hear an interview and live music from the band!
Between EBC, Costumed dances, TPing houses, and scary movie marathons, it’s easy to forget what this Halloween Holiday Season is all about. That, my friends, is of course CAAAAAANDY!!!! So, the Thursday following the Eastern Balboa Championships, RDU Rent Party will be throwing a post-Halloween candy cleanup and costume one-last-use party. We’ll be bringing back the Bumper Jacksons from Baltimore, MD and have been told we are likely to have a ridiculously costumed band for the night. 🙂
So consider it your Hero’s Duty (not that kind of doody) to dress up for this event. The best dressed will win a special prize from our resident Stinkbrain, Laura Windley. Bonus points will be given for those dressing as video game characters. Anyone attempting to go Turbo and cheat the game will be candy-coated and locked in the Fungeon where you will be forced to play the game (http://www.disney.co.uk/wreck-it-ralph/games/?game=sugar-rush) and listen to the Sugar Rush song on an endless loop.
So bring whatever leftover Halloween candy you have for the build-a-racer mini game (NOTE: The racer factory may have been destroyed by a game-jumping bad guy). You can gorge yourself on refined sugars and dance like mad until the clock winds down, then it will all go up in a giant geyser of Mentos and Diet Coke and we’ll reset the game to do it all again.
The Bumper Jacksons are a big, fat party. Hot and sweet, their trad jazz and pre-war country repertoire paint’s America’s story from New Orleans’ brothels to Appalachian hollers. Unafraid to scrap together new sounds from forgotten 78’s, the Bumper Jacksons boldly and elegantly balance paying homage to the traditions while fashioning their own unique, DIY style. They perform the old traditional sounds of America, heart-wrenching and youthful, and always in the spirit of raw adventure.
Triangle Dance Studio – The Lindy Lab Studio Room
2603 S. Miami Blvd.
Durham, NC
Free Beginner Lindy Hop Lesson at 7:00 pm
Dancing Starts at 8:00 pm
Admission is pay what you can with a $10 suggested donation
Please also be aware that parking may be limited so please find overflow parking at the Dentist’s or Vet’s offices and not on the street.
On October 24th, the City of Brotherly Love is sending some love our way. No, we are not erecting a statue of Rocky (or Jason posing as Rocky) at TDS, but we will be getting some swing love in the form of the Perseverance Jazz Band.
This New Orleans inspired band has been keeping Philly dance floors hopping for some time now and is making a pilgrimage south which naturally has to include a stop at RDU Rent Party. They will also be christening the first Rent Party dance in the new Lindy Lab studio at TDS, meaning this is the first band that gets to start at 8 and not have to work their way around Salsa classes to setup. So they’ll be fresh and ready to come out swingin’ for a knockout of a dance.
In addition, Ms. Breanna Perry, also of Philadelphia, will be accompanying the band, spinning tunes for the night and teaching a solo Charleston workshop from 7-8. So we’ll be forgoing the normal beginner lesson to give everyone a shot at picking up some of Breanna’s hot moves and we imagine there will be a multitude of Charleston jams accompanying the band at this dance.
Suggested price for the dance is $10 and a suggested additional $5 for the workshop which will be collected in a separate hat. As always, all money collected goes directly to the entertainers.
Triangle Dance Studio – Lindy Lab Studio (look for the orange door frame)
2603 S. Miami Blvd.
Durham, NC
Beginner solo Charleston lesson from 7-8 p.m.
Dance from 8-11 p.m.
I’m back in the DJ booth with my partner in crime DJ Bill Speidel for another wonderful weekend of workshops and dances in Richmond – Jammin’ on the James is the weekend of October 18-20, 2013, with international instructors Marie Nahnfeldt Mattsson, Skye Humphries, Mike Faltesek, and Casey Schneider rounding out the teaching roster. We’ll be enjoying live music from DC’s Blue Crescent Syncopators, Baltimore’s Bumper Jacksons, and Richmond’s own Doctors of Jazz. This is always such a fun, quality weekend of dancing, I hope you’ll join us!
I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” but I really just need to put it out there, for the Triangle dancers and jazz musicians, for various reasons.
Norfolk, Virginia swing DJ Bill Speidel has already written the article I would write at this point in time, called “Do You Want to Swing, Virginia?” I encourage dancers and local jazz musicians to read this and note the examples. While I do have a bit of a broader interpretation of what swings for me, I think Bill narrows the issue to make a point.
If it doesn’t swing, then it doesn’t inherently inspire me to dance.
It’s that time of year – the time every year where I drive 8 1/2 hours to my Mecca-of-sorts, All Balboa Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio. There will definitely be a vintage shopping excursion (with a report), with some old favorites and perhaps a new shop for Lindy Shopper. And cupcakes.
I’m looking forward to working with the many of you who volunteered to participate in All Balboa Weekend’s 1940’s fashion show, as well as seeing all the wonderful clothing that you are bringing and that Val and the vendors are providing for the show!
I am also looking forward to performing with my band, the Mint Julep Jazz Band, at the Friday night dance and to singing with the Boilermaker Jazz Band on Saturday. This is really a dream come true, to be able to have my band perform at my favorite dance weekend of the year, and I’m just…over the moon right now. EXCITED!
Last, but certainly not least, I am one of the main DJs for the weekend, along with head DJ Kyle Smith and fellow blogger Christian Bossert of Swing DJ Resources.
Yes, I will be doing ALL THE THINGS. Including dancing. 😀
I hope to see some of you there, please come up and introduce yourself if we are not already acquainted.
Onward to Cleveland!
Laura Windley 