swing

Hot Rhythm Holiday in Austin, Texas – January 17, 2015

The Mint Julep Jazz Band will be performing at Austin, Texas’ unique and awesome event, Hot Rhythm Holiday, a weekend of dances, workshops, and live music focusing on the dances Balboa and Collegiate Shag. This is the band’s first fly-out gig and we’re excited, but hope everything goes well at the airport. Cross your fingers for no delays! Once we get there on January 17, we hope we’ll have the afternoon to explore a Austin a bit before we perform at The Fed that night. We’ll be sharing the stage with Austin’s own Thrift Set Orchestra for four sets of live music at the Saturday night dance!

Events at Common 414

I am excited to announce that the Mint Julep Jazz Band will be working with Common 414, a new 1920’s themed cocktail bar that has opened in Raleigh, NC – three upcoming events of note!

1) Friday, November 14, 2014, the Mint Julep Quintet will play from 8-11p.m. and at 10:00 p.m. we’ll be hosting and playing live music for a Charleston contest! Come show off your gams and your hot jazz moves – the winner of the Charleston contest gets a Mint Julep Jazz Band prize pack (CD, shoe bag, button) and a VIP Booth Package for Common 414 (a $250 value).

2) and 3) On two Sundays in January (11th and 25th), 2015 we begin what we hope will be a regular gig for the Mint Julep Jazz Band, so you can hear all this great music from the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s performed by our little big band twice a month! We say we hope because continuation of this event depends on you voting to keep MJJB here with your feet and your wonderful presence. Band plays from 7-10 p.m., $5 cover because there are a lot of people in the band!

Thanks so much to Common 414 for giving us this opportunity, it’s rare to see bands this large with regular gigs and we’ll do our best to keep this one – swing out, Raleigh!

Our State Magazine – Music in the Library

The Mint Julep Jazz Band was excited to be invited to provide music for Our State Magazine‘s Music in the Library video series, which shares and highlights songs from North Carolina musical artists filmed at Our State Magazine’s headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina. We filled up their cozy library space with eight musicians, swing, and hot jazz on a hot June afternoon and the results came out great, using just three microphones and three cameras.

The band recorded “Swingtime in Honolulu,” “Rock it for Me,” and “Miami Boulevard” – visit the Our State YouTube channel for all the videos from this series!

Frankie 100 NC

The Mint Julep Jazz Band is proud to be performing at Frankie 100 NC, North Carolina’s Frankie Manning Centennial Celebration, a once ever event celebrating the life and legacy of Lindy Hop pioneer, educator, and global ambassador Frankie Manning, who passed away shortly before his 95th birthday. This year Frankie would have been 100 years old and the global Lindy Hop community is set to celebrate, with a huge event in New York, Frankie’s hometown, and smaller celebrations worldwide.

The Mint Julep Jazz Band will be performing at the main dance on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at the Carrboro Century Center from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Come join us for some Lindy Hop and be a part of this celebration for NC, which is drawing dancers from surrounding states and beyond!

Boilermaker Jazz Band at CUALX

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!

Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout with Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five

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. 😀

Mint Julep Jazz Band’s 2nd Anniversary and Live Stream February 1, 2014

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 XII Recap

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 State of Things November 22 and Rent Party November 23

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!

RDU Rent Party: Sugar Rush Eeeedition featuring Bumper Jacksons – November 7, 2013

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.