swing band

Duck Jazz Festival – October 11, 2015

We love traveling around our home state of North Carolina to perform at cool and unique venues, so we are delighted to be included in the roster for this year’s Duck Jazz Festival on the outer banks of North Carolina! The Duck Jazz Festival, now in its 9th year, presents a free day-long festival of regional, national, and international jazz artists with two stages on the Duck Town Green.

This year’s festival artists include Maceo Parker, the Bria Skonberg Quintet, the Mint Julep Jazz Band, The Monitors, Joe Mapp and the Coordinates, and the First Flight High School Honors Jazz Band.

The music starts at 11:00 a.m. – join us on October 11, 2015 in Duck! For more information, visit the Duck Jazz Festival website.

Battle Axe Review on Jazz Lives Blog

Thanks so much to Michael Steinman of the Jazz Lives blog for this detailed and wonderful review of Battle Axe! The Mint Julep Jazz Band is delighted to be included on his blog, with his thoughtful research and review of the many jazz giants performing traditional jazz of yesteryear and of today.

If you love traditional jazz and swing, I would recommend following Michael’s blog (*ahem* swing DJs) – it is comprehensive, updated regularly, and features wonderful artists, both new and old. Michael’s dedication to the research, review, and enjoyment of this music and the artists definitely shows in his writing.

2015 International Lindy Hop Championships

I am delighted to be joining Jonathan Stout‘s bands again for the 2015 International Lindy Hop Championships in Arlington, Virginia! I’ll be singing with Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five (Plus More) on Friday, August 28, 2015 and with the Jonathan Stout Orchestra on Saturday, August 29. Be sure to tune into the Yehoodi broadcast of the event to catch all the wonderful, inspiring dancing from the competitors at this event!

Battle Axe on Hey Mister Jesse Podcast, Episode #116

Battle Axe is featured in the August, 2015 episode of the Hey Mister Jesse Podcast on Yehoodi.com – check it out! If you aren’t hip to the Hey Mister Jesse podcast, you might like it if you like swinging jazz and blues, music to dance to, emerging and established swing/jazz/blues artists, and the classic swing era artists we still love so dearly.

Bal-ast Off in Huntsville, Alabama – July 31-August 2, 2015

I’m excited to be visiting and singing, for the very first time, the state of Alabama to perform at Bal-ast Off with Michael Gamble and his Rhythm Serenaders! I will also be DJ’ing this weekend of Balboa workshops and dances in Huntsville, along with head DJ Kyle Smith and DJ Erica Vess. As of the date of this post, the event is almost sold out – get your tickets fast and join the flight crew at Bal-ast Off! 😀

All Balboa Weekend 2015

Super proud of the Mint Julep Jazz Band’s performance at the 15th annual All Balboa Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio on June 13, 2015 – it was our third year performing at the event and the dancers always show us so much love and appreciation! I took a video from the stage, including shots of the band and the crowd of Balboa dancers during the tune “Old King Dooji.” Enjoy!

Hob Nob Jazz Series at Cary’s Booth Amphitheater

On May 27, 2015, the Mint Julep Jazz Band will return to Koka Booth Amphitheater‘s Crescent Deck to perform as part of the Hob Nob Jazz Concert Series! We’ll be performing three sets of music from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Bring a picnic and join us on the deck or bring a blanket and recline in the grass.

Admission is $5 for adults; Kids 12 and under free – you can purchase advance tickets at Koka Booth Amphitheater’s website. Pets on leashes are allowed and also get in free. 🙂 See you soon, Cary!

The view from the Crescent Deck at Koka Booth Amphitheater, taken at our performance two years ago, courtesy of Sweet Life Studios: http://www.sweetlifestudios.com/

Two Dates at Common 414 in May!

I am so happy the Mint Julep Jazz Band is returning to Common 414, Raleigh’s 1920’s-themed cocktail bar, for another double header in May. We’ll be performing May 3 and May 17, 2015 (both are Sunday nights) from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Come relax and drink a cocktail on one of Common 414’s many comfy couches or bring your dance shoes and cut a rug in front of the band. There’s plenty of room for everyone!

DCLX with the Jonathan Stout Orchestra, April 25, 2015

I’ll be making another appearance with esteemed Los Angeles bandleader Jonathan Stout and his Orchestra at Glen Echo Park’s Spanish Ballroom for the Saturday night dance at the Washington DC Lindy Exchange, April 25, 2015 – singing with this band at this venue for this event is going to be delightful! See you at DCLX!

Mint Julep Jazz Band Kickstarter – Ends March 11!

As we head into our last few days of Kickstarting our second album, Battle Axe, we are so fortunate to be funded at our $12,000 goal and are working toward our stretch goal of vinyl copies of the album if we reach $16,000! If you haven’t pre-ordered the album yet or if you want a tee shirt or any of the other goodies that are only available through Kickstarter, you have until March 11 to become a backer. 🙂

Laura Windley

Hot jazz and swing vocalist