New York

Going to Madrid for The World Jam!

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EDITED 8/2/18: This event is cancelled, to my great dismay, for reasons out of the organizers control. Some other time, Madrid…

There aren’t enough exclamation points, I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be performing with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders in Madrid, Spain this September at The World Jam! This is my first international gig and the stakes are high – the premise of The World Jam event is that they invite four bands from all over the world to compete in Madrid, so each set is a band battle and the winners are…well, everyone is a winner, especially the dancers, to get to listen to and dance to all this amazing swing music!

We’ll be competing against some old friends and we’ll make some new friends from the bands we don’t know – joining us for the battle are Gordon Webster Band (NYC), Professor Cunningham and his Old School (NYC), and the Enric Peidro Swingtet (Spain).

Join us in Madrid September 27-30, 2018 if you love jazz and swing music!

April in DC and NYC

I love visiting these two cities and, in particular, these two events – I hope will be a mix of performing and dancing for me. First, on April 20, 2018, I’m singing with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders Orchestra (our second performance after a fantastic debut at School of Hard Knox) at the Washington DC Lindy Exchange, in the historic Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park. On Saturday, April 21, 2018, join me and Alexandre Abdoulaev at Cafe Jovial in Baltimore from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for some tunes, coffee, and brunch. Then I head to New York to catch the end of Bal Week, performing with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders on Friday and Saturday nights, April 27 and 28, 2018, and I’ll be hanging out the day before and couple of days after taking in all the good music and dancing this city has to offer. See you soon!

Until then, here’s a video from last year’s Bal Week performance with the Glenn Crytzer Orchestra:

Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders – July 12, 2017

Midsummer Night Swing 2016 - Mint Julep Jazz Band

MSNS Damrosch Park bandshell photograph courtesy of Ryan Swift

It was an incredible honor for the Mint Julep Jazz Band to be hired to perform at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing summer concert series for 2016, so when Michael Gamble asked me to perform at this year’s event, I was floored – on July 12, 2017, I’ll be singing with Michael Gamble at the Rhythm Serenaders at this truly amazing outdoor event, one that many New York dancers say is their favorite dance event in the city. Midsummer Night Swing is three consecutive weeks of social dances to live music, highlighting musicians from all over the US and the world, under the stars at a lighted dance pavilion set up at the bandshell at Damrosch Park. It’s a gorgeous event and I hope you will join us in New York for a night of awesome swing music and dancing!

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Glenn Crytzer Orchestra featuring Laura Windley – When I Get Low I Get High

I had an amazing time performing at New York Bal Week, an event that runs from Monday to Sunday, highlighting New York’s fantastic live bands and venues and focusing on Balboa, offering Balboa workshops over the weekend of the event. This is one of those “only in New York” type of events and it was a delight and an honor to be asked to come up and perform for this event with Glenn Crytzer’s New Yorkers and his Orchestra. Here’s a clip of me with the orchestra doing “When I Get Low I Get High” from the Saturday night dance – enjoy!

Fall Tour 2016 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders

I have a few local gigs with the Mint Julep Jazz Band here and there this fall, but the bulk of my October and November performance schedule will be traveling with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders to swing dance events far and wide! Here are the events and cities I’ll be visiting soon:

October 14-15, 2016 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at the Slow Dance Soiree, Rochester, NY

October 28-29, 2016 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at the Atlanta Varsity Showdown, Atlanta, GA – with costume night on Friday!

November 4-5, 2016 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at the Nevermore Jazz Ball, St. Louis, MO – Saturday night at the historic Casa Loma Ballroom!

November 11-12, 2016 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at Whistle Stop, West Lafayette, IN

November 18-19, 2016 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders and the Craig Gildner Big Band at the Austin Lindy Exchange, Austin, TX

Hope to see you at one (or some) of these events, come up and say hello!

June is amazing!

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Lincoln Center’s band shell and dance pavilion at Damrosch Park.

Seriously, it’s going to be one of the best months for the Mint Julep Jazz Band and, thus, for myself – here’s a rundown of the goodness to come:

June 3 – Mint Julep Quintet is performing at Beyu Caffe, our local jazz and supper club at its new spacious and wonderful location. Durham, come hear your hometown swing band!

June 4 – Live Love Lindy is Winston-Salem’s first and NC’s only Lindy exchange for 2016! Looking forward to returning to the fabulous Vintage Theater (and its teeny tiny stage, it’s going to be tight for 8 people!) with the Mint Julep Jazz Band and also looking forward to performing with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at Camel City BBQ for the Saturday late night dance!

June 16-19 – I’ll be making my annual pilgrimage to Cleveland for All Balboa Weekend to pull triple duty: 1) DJ’ing, 2) performing at the Friday night dance with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders, and 3) performing at the Saturday night dance with the Mint Julep Jazz Band.

June 24 – I am still pinching myself to make sure this is real and not a dream, the Mint Julep Jazz Band is performing at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing! We are flying to New York to perform at this wonderful event, part of a three week concert series with social dancing to live music in an outdoor pavilion under the stars in Damrosch Park! I’ll tell you if it was a dream at the end of the month… 😉

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Mint Julep Jazz Band at Lincoln Center in New York!

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We are beyond excited to announce that the Mint Julep Jazz Band will be performing at Lincoln Center in New York as a part of their Midsummer Night Swing concert series! Join us on June 24 under the stars for a night of swing music in the Big Apple!

The concert series, which runs from June 21 through July 9, 2016, features live music of the dancing variety, with a big dance floor set up in front of the Lincoln Center bandshell at Damrosch Park – artists joining us in this series include Catherine Russell, Septeto Santiaguero, the Allen Toussaint Band, and many other wonderful artists from New York and beyond!

From the Midsummer Night Swing website: “This North Carolina–based “little” big band’s goal is simple: to keep you on the dance floor. Specializing in the great swing tunes of the ’30s, the eight-piece band has been tearing through the Lindy hop competition circuit, leaving masses of new fans in its wake. Sweet and refreshing with an intoxicating kick, the band makes its highly anticipated New York debut at Midsummer Night Swing.”

For more information on the event, tickets, artists, and the dances featured in lessons before each show, visit http://midsummernightswing.org.

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Glenn Crytzer’s Pegu Club Allstars – August 16, 2015

I went to New York a couple of weekends ago and a highlight of my trip was being invited to sit in with Glenn Crytzer’s Pegu Club Allstars, who have a regular Sunday night gig at Pegu Club, a wonderful cocktail bar in Manhattan. The band is a somewhat rotating cast of NYC’s hot jazz greats and this particular week included Glenn Crytzer (guitar), Sean Cronin (bass), Jason Prover (trumpet), and Dennis Lichtman (clarinet). Here are three videos from that night, filmed by the ever thoughtful Voon Chew:

Stompology 2015

I’ll be returning to Rochester, NY to perform with Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five for Stompology! Join us June 4-7, 2015 for this famous dance weekend, the first of its kind devoted to authentic jazz, Charleston, and solo movement, now in its 10th year. Excited to be performing with the Campus Five again on Friday and Saturday nights of the event and to be able to mark this event off my bucket list!

Slow Dance Soiree with Michael Gamble’s Rhythm Serenaders, February 6-7, 2015

This weekend I will be flying to Rochester, New York for the very first time to sing with Michael Gamble’s Rhythm Serenaders at the Slow Dance Soiree, a swing dance event hosted by Groove Juice Swing that will focus on slow dancing for Lindy Hoppers. I am looking forward to performing again with the Rhythm Serenaders and visiting a new city, but I must admit that I am not sure what to do with these extremely cold temperatures! Wish me luck in staying warm!