The Mint Julep Jazz Band‘s new album, “Durham on Saturday Night,” is now available for purchase through CD Baby and iTunes! Huzzah!
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Mint Julep Jazz Band CD Release Party May 8!
The members of the Mint Julep Jazz Band are beyond excited about having our album, “Durham on Saturday Night,” ready for you to listen to and enjoy!
We hope that you will join us at G2B Gastro Pub on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 for our CD release party from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. – we’ll be playing a mix of tracks from the CD and classic swing music, and the band will take the stage at 9:30 p.m. for an hour-long set. If you’d like to eat dinner, they are recommending that you make a reservation; if you’d just like to snack, drink, or hang out, come as you are!
We’ll have plenty of CDs on hand for sale and we’ll also have our Kickstarter rewards available if you designated local pickup.
If you can’t make it to the CD release party, never fear! We should have the album available on iTunes and CD Baby for digital download by May 8 and will have distribution of physical copies of the CD through CD Baby sometime in the near future. You will also be able to pick up the CD at any of our upcoming shows.
For our Kickstarter supporters who are out of town and opted for mailing your rewards, we will begin shipping the CD as soon as we have it in hand, but it may take a few weeks to get all the rewards where they need to go.
Thanks again to all of our supporters, Kickstarter backers, Jamie Wolcott for her amazing cover art, Jason Richmond for both the recording and the mastering, and our maestro Lucian Cobb for the mix. We hope you love it!
April 18 – Tune In to Sesame Street to Hear the Mint Julep Jazz Band
The Mint Julep Jazz Band‘s next big milestone is Sesame Street – tune in to Sesame Street on April 18 to hear an original tune by the Mint Julep Jazz Band! If you are in Durham, NC, Sesame Street airs at 10:00 a.m. on PBS.
We’ve been asked a lot about whether or not the band will be seen on the show and if we got to meet the Muppets, etc., but even though we will not appear on the show in person, we are in the business of making music and we are happy to lend our skills to one of the non-Muppet segments that features a great enrichment activity for children. Perhaps we can work our way up to meeting the Muppets, like local legends the Squirrel Nut Zippers. 🙂
For more information about how we snagged this great opportunity, check out our previous post on Sesame Street.
Mint Julep Quintet Double Header: G2B and Beyu Caffe
We’ve got Mint Julep Quintet gigs back to back, coming right up!
On March 22, 2013, we’ll be making our monthly appearance at the stellar G2B Gastro Pub! Admission is free, but we recommend making a reservation if you would like to eat or have a seat – please specify that you would like to be seated in the jazz lounge.
We’ve rescheduled for March 23 after getting snowed out last time – the Mint Julep Quintet is ready to take on Durham’s venerable jazz venue, Beyu Caffe! Join us for a night of swing, cocktails, and delicious food…and maybe a little dancing.
Queen City Lindy Exchange 2013
This Saturday, March 9, the Mint Julep Jazz Band hits the road to road to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Queen City Lindy Exchange. We are excited to appear as their Saturday night band for the second year in a row! As North Carolina’s only Lindy Exchange, we are looking forward to some stellar regional dancer attendance, including a large caravan of dancers coming from the Triangle.
Also, QCLX’s theme for this year is Dr. Who – Whovian Lindy Hoppers can participate in a costume contest on Friday night and in a Doctor/Companion Jack and Jill competition on Saturday night. 🙂
Chantilly Hall
2101 Shenandoah Ave.
Charlotte, NC
Band plays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Admission: Registration information for the weekend at http://www.qclx.org, $25 at the door on Saturday night
P.S. I’m also DJ’ing this weekend – woot!
Sesame Street Features Mint Julep Jazz Band Song!
Tune in to Sesame Street on April 18, 2013 to hear an original Mint Julep Jazz Band song in one of the non-muppet segments! We are excited to have an air date and to finally be able to make this announcement, which we’ve been keeping quiet about since September, when Lucian composed and we recorded the song.
How did this happen? It’s all about networking (or being in the right place at the right time?) – we performed at a local wedding in August and one of the guests thought we’d be perfect for a project he was doing for Sesame Street. After a few phone calls and emails we had about a week and a half to put everything together, from Lucian composing the tune, getting everyone in the same place to record it, culling enough equipment together to have a quality recording, to lots of little logistical hurdles that occur when you are contracting out your services. Needless to say, everyone in the band was really excited to be involved in something that was going to appear on Sesame Street, and, with that motivation, we pulled it off in a very short amount of time.
If you can’t tune in to the show, there may be a way to watch it online after the air date – stay tuned!
Mint Julep Jazz Band at the Triangle Swing Dance Society Dance, March 2, 2013
On Saturday, March 2, 2013, the Mint Julep Jazz Band will be back at the Murphey School for a swing dance, hosted by the Triangle Swing Dance Society. TSDS is also hosting a day of swing dance workshops that Saturday called Localpalooza, which features many of the local swing dance instructors teaching a range of classes for all levels. If you are interested in learning how to dance, this would be a great beginner crash course! If you already know how to dance, there’s a little something for everyone – information on the workshops can be found on the Triangle Swing Dance Society website.
MJJB at the TSDS dance on December 1, 2012
As for the dance, we’ll see you at the Murphey School!
Murphey School
3717 Murphy School Road
Durham, NC 27705
Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m.
Band plays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Admission: Members/students $8.00, non-members $12.00
Three Fridays with the Mint Julep Quintet!
The main dining room at G2B
This month the Mint Julep Quintet is performing in Durham three Fridays in a row! If you haven’t made it out to see our small group yet, you’ll have plenty of chances:
January 18 at G2B Gastro Pub
We’re returning for our monthly engagement at this fine establishment that straddles the line between modern gourmet and comfort food and drink. Make a reservation to dine in the jazz lounge to ensure that you get a seat! You can make reservations through their website (they use OpenTable) or by calling the restaurant at (919) 251-9451.
8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
G2B Gastro Pub
3211 Shannon Road #106
Durham, NC
January 25 at Beyu Caffe – CANCELLED for inclement weather, rescheduled for March 23
Beyu’s lovely interior, inside the Art Deco era Snow Building
We are making our debut at Beyu Caffe, the restaurant voted the best place to hear jazz in the Triangle in the Independent Weekly reader’s poll. Come join us at this wonderful downtown establishment for dinner, dancing, drinks, dessert, or all of the above! You may also want to make a reservation here, depending on your seating preference – call the restaurant at (919) 683-1058.
9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
Beyu Caffe
335 W. Main St.
Durham, NC
February 1 at G2B Gastro Pub
Laura in the jazz lounge at G2B
We’re making our February appearance at G2B Gastro Pub earlier in the month – your last chance to catch the Quintet until we return on March 22!
8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
G2B Gastro Pub
3211 Shannon Road #106
Durham, NC
We hope you will join us for one of these performances! Come find out why Durham is both a foodie town and a jazz town, thanks to creative chefs and restaurant owners who take pride in their food, their city, and their entertainment. 🙂
Mint Julep Jazz Band Kickstarter Fully Funded!
As of November 28, the Mint Julep Jazz Band reached (and even surpassed) the $6,000 funding goal on our Kickstarter campaign to raise money to produce our first CD! We are overwhelmed and so grateful for the generosity of all of our backers, particularly, the Triangle Swing Dance Society, who was not only our largest monetary backer, but also pledged the amount that sent us over our $6,000 goal. Thanks to your help and the magic of crowd funding, the Mint Julep Jazz Band is going to record a CD in January!
The other brilliant part of this is that we reached our funding goal in 28 days, which is just under half the amount of time we allotted to meet our goal. This means that the Kickstarter does not officially end until December 30, so if you’d still like to pre-order a CD or support the Kickstarter for other rewards, you have until December 30 to do so. If you’d like to view our Kickstarter, visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laurawindley/mint-julep-jazz-bands-first-cd-durham-on-saturday.
Thanks again! We really couldn’t have done it without you!
Mint Julep Jazz Band at the Triangle Swing Dance Society, December 1, 2012
From our June performance for the Triangle Swing Dance Society, courtesy of Tiffany Lindquist.
It’s the Mint Julep Jazz Band‘s last show of the year and we are delighted to be performing for the Triangle Swing Dance Society for their election/potluck dance. To usher in the season, we’ll be performing a couple of Christmas tunes in our set. Come dance off all the turkey you ate last week!
Triangle Swing Dance Society dance
Murphey School
3717 Murphy School Road, Durham, NC
Admission: Members/students $8.00, general admission $12.00
Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m.
Band plays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Laura Windley 