A few weeks ago the News & Observer’s Martha Quillin interviewed me and Lucian Cobb about the Mint Julep Jazz Band, big band music, and swing dancing in the Triangle. The article was published in this weekend’s Sunday paper!
Read the article at http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/20/2077923/swing-dancing-with-big-band-sound.html.
The Mint Julep Jazz Band is honored and excited to be a part of the lineup for the Art of Cool Project‘s After Hours Concert Series at LabourLove Gallery, May 18, 2012. Tickets are $10.00 in advance or $15.00 at the door – purchase advance tickets at http://theartofcoolproject.com/buy-tickets.
Doors open at 9:00, show starts at 9:30. Please arrive early or on time to get a seat, these shows usually sell out!
LabourLove Gallery
807 E Main St, Suite 2-130
Durham, NC
For more information about The Art of Cool Project and its myriad activities across the Triangle, visit http://theartofcoolproject.com/
For more information about LabourLove Gallery, visit http://labourlove.com/.
The Mint Julep Jazz Band is looking forward to performing at ItalianFest at Lafayette Village in Raleigh this Saturday, May 12, 2012. We will be performing from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on the green in front of The Village Grill.
ItalianFest is an all day event, starting at noon, with lots of live music, Italian-themed activities and, of course, food! Come and bring your appetite for some delicious Italian food, relax with a glass of wine, and enjoy the sounds of the Mint Julep Jazz Band.
For more information about the schedule of events, visit the event Facebook invite at http://www.facebook.com/events/382478951767401/.
For more information about Lafayette Village, visit their website at http://www.lafayettevillageraleigh.com.
See you there! Ciao!
On Saturday, March 31, the Mint Julep Jazz Band will be featured at Altar Ego, an event at the Washington Duke Inn that features a bridal fashion show, table top designs, food, music and dancing.
The Washington Duke Inn
3001 Cameron Boulevard
Durham, NC 27705
6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Mint Julep Jazz Band plays from 8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
General Admission: $35.00
VIP Admission (front row seating): $75.00
For more information and to purchase tickets, see the event’s Eventbrite page.
For photographs of past Altar Ego events, visit http://www.trebellabridal.com/Fashion_Show.html.
We’ll be donning our finest emerald apparel for the Mint Julep Jazz Band show on March 17, 2012 at the Triangle Swing Dance Society swing dance, held at the Carrboro Century Center. Come dance on the finest sprung wood floor in the Triangle! Don’t know how to dance? No problem! There’s a beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m. that is included with the price of admission.
Carrboro Century Center
100 N. Greensboro Street
Carrboro, NC
Beginner east coast swing lesson – 7:00 p.m.
Band plays from 8:00-11:00 p.m.
Admission: Members/students $8.00, general admission $12.00
On March 10, 2012 the Mint Julep Jazz Band is playing the Saturday night dance at the Queen City Lindy Exchange! The Queen City Lindy Exchange is a weekend-long swing dance event held in Charlotte, NC with dances held throughout the weekend, featuring both DJs and live bands. Speaking of DJs, I will also be one of their featured DJs for the weekend. 🙂 QCLX is organized by Eric and Stephanie Simpson of Lovin’ Lindy, who are the dearest people and I’m looking forward to working with them at this event!
For more information on the event and the Saturday night dance, please visit http://www.qclx.org/.
I’m looking forward to (i.e. crazy, insanely excited about) the Mint Julep Jazz Band‘s debut performance on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at Durham’s weekly Lindy Hop and Swing dance night at Hot Club of Durham, with the band hosted by RDU Rent Party! RDU Rent Party is a pay-what-you-can swing dance where all the donations taken at the door go to the band at the end of the night. Everyone is welcome at this event – this is a large venue and there will be plenty of seating at tables for people who are not dancing.
Also making her debut with the Mint Julep Jazz Band is DJ Sarah Ovenall, host of WXDU’s Divaville Lounge, which highlights “great songs and singers from Tin Pan Alley to the swing era,” every Sunday from 2-4 p.m. on 88.7 FM. If you’ve ever heard Sarah’s show, you know that she has an extensive music collection from the jazz age and swing era. She’s up for this new DJ challenge and I’m excited to hear her first set for dancers!
The Trotter Building back then is very similar to how it looks today.
Hot Club of Durham
Trotter Building
410 W. Geer Street
Durham, NC
8:00 p.m. – Beginner lesson
9:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. – The Mint Julep Jazz Band and DJ Sarah Ovenall
RDU Rent Party is pay-what-you-can with a suggested $10 donation
The Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/234356989972442/
For more information, visit
Looking forward to making my second appearance as a Vaudevillain, this time in a 1920’s/1930’s themed show, which is definitely up my alley. I’ll be lending my dancing, vocal, and choreography talents to this show – very excited!
Here’s the skinny:
The VaudeVillain Revue is back with their biggest, most ambitious show yet – The Bootlegger’s Ball!! We’ll take you back to the Roaring 20s and into the 30s, with flappers, gangsters, big bands, and jazz. The cast for this show is fantastic, including aerialists, hoopers, pole athletes, burlesque dancers, jazz dancers, and the mentalist and magician, The Amazing Leoni. Guest performers include the banjo-player extraordinaire Curtis Eller, darkly beautiful belly dancer, Amelia Mourningstar, and a visit from NYC’s tapper, flapper, and gal-about-town, Kristen Minksy (one half of the NYC duo, The Minsky Sisters). This is not a show to be missed!
Doors open at 9:00 p.m., show starts at 10:00 p.m.. $15 at the door, $12 in advance. Vintage or costume attire desired, but not required. There will be prizes from our sponsors, Galaxy Cinema and Aradia Fitness, and a new seating plan to better accommodate our guests!
Advance tickets available here. We will sell out, so make sure to get your tickets ahead of time and get in line early to make sure you get a good seat!
It’s a busy week for RDU Rent Party as we play host two two music events – first, on Thursday, January 26, 2012, Jessy Carolina and the Hot Mess return to North Carolina for a dance at Hot Club of Durham’s weekly Lindy Hop and swing night. This 5 piece New York based hot jazz band is full of energy and Jessy belts it out like no other.
Trotter Building
410 W. Geer Street
Durham, NC
Beginner Lesson at 8:00 p.m. with Adam Speen and Abigail Browning (who will be teaching a Dean Collins and Jewel McGowan class series for Hot Club in February – check it out! http://hotclubofdurham.com/2011/12/intermediate-lesson-dance-like-dean-and-shine-like-jewel/)
Dancing from 9:00 p.m. to midnight
Admission is pay-what-you-can with a $10 suggested donation, with all donations going to the band.
Floyd Council
Second, RDU Rent Party welcomes back th’ Bullfrog Willard McGhee and Tad Walters for a very special edition of Rent Party, where all the proceeds of this dance will go to the Floyd Council Memorial Project. Floyd Council was a Piedmont Blues guitarist and singer who began playing in Chapel Hill in the 1920’s and rose to prominence in the 1930’s when he recorded with blues musician Bind Boy Fuller. His influence is widespread, including serving as inspiration and partial namesake of the band Pink Floyd. Floyd Council presently lies in an unmarked grave in the White Oak A.M.E. church cemetery in Sanford, North Carolina. The goal of the Floyd Council Memorial Project is to raise funding in order to:
1) Clear trees and brush at the cemetery
2) Place a marker to memorialize Floyd in recognition for his contribution to Blues
3) Establish long term care and maintenance of the memorial and its immediate surroundings
4) Possible creation and promotion of an annual Floyd Council Memorial Blues Festival
Come out and support th’ Bullfrog’s efforts to promote North Carolina’s blues music heritage and honor one of its most prominent musicians. It will be a night of blues that will make you sway and keep your toes tapping, at any tempo!
Triangle Dance Studio
2603 S. Miami Blvd.
Durham, NC
7:00 p.m. – Beginner lesson
8:00-11:00 p.m. – th’ Bullfrog and Tad play, with special guests John D. Holeman and Lightnin’ Wells
As always, Rent Party is pay what you can with a suggested $10 minimum donation to the band
I’ve entered the Hawkeye Swing Festival’s Choreography Contest and I’d love to have your vote! If you’d like to vote for my routine or any of the other routines, please fill out this survey at Survey Monkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hsfchoreocomp
For more information on the competition, please visit the Hawkeye Swing Festival’s website. The winner will be decided by popular vote and you can only vote once. Voting ends December 31, 2011.
Here are the entry videos, going in the order in which they appeared on the Hawkeye Swing Festival’s Facebook page:
Laura Windley
Katibeth Lee
Jerry Foote and Robin Carlson
Serge Nika Berg and Sarah Relander
Gabriella Cook
Michael Brafford and Dee Daniels Locke
Stacia Martin and Jeremy Fischer
Laura Windley 