It’s always a pleasure to work with bandleader Craig Gildner and I’m excited to be joining the Craig Gildner Big Band, along with my husband Lucian Cobb as the featured trombone player, at Glen Echo Park’s historic Spanish Ballroom on March 10, 2018. We’ll have new tunes for you, or at least some new-to-me tunes that I’m excited to present to a room full of dancers!
You know the drill – beginner lesson at 8:00 p.m., dancing from 9:00 p.m. until midnight! Come swing out, DC!
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!
I am excited to announce that I will be working at this year’s Lindy Focus Dance Camp in three capacities! First, I will be a part of the event’s DJ roster, spinning tunes in the Balboa room, now known as the Avalon Balboa Dance Party. It has been a dream of mine for years to be invited to DJ at Lindy Focus and I am excited to be invited to spin my favorite tunes (i.e. uptempo swing) for the event.
Second, I will be making an appearance as Lindy Shopper on a panel discussion during Lindy Focus’ Field Day – the discussion is titled “Scene Building in the Age of New Media” and I will be accompanied by four other esteemed panelists, including Dance World Takeover‘s Rebecca Brightly, Wandering and Pondering‘s Jerry Almonte, Mobtown Ballroom‘s Michael Seguin, and international dance instructor and swing jazz guitarist Mike Faltesek.
Finally, I’ll be singing a few tunes with the Solomon Douglas Swingtet on December 30!
Did I mention I was excited?! I mean, who isn’t excited about the opportunity to attend Lindy Focus? The cherry on my awesome LF sundae is that my husband, trombonist Lucian Cobb, will be working the event, as well, performing with Ben Polcer, Glenn Crytzer, and Solomon Douglas – huzzah!
Starting a new band raises a lot of questions – in conversations with people, these questions have come up most frequently, so here’s a little FAQ to get you more acquainted with the Mint Julep Jazz Band:
What kind of music will you play?
We will focus on music from the 1920’s and 1930’s, but some early 1940’s tunes may creep into the mix. The band will be playing arrangements that are either transcribed from original recordings or reproductions of original recordings (or a combination of both – sometimes having a hi-fi reference helps a lot) and arrangements that our maestro Lucian Cobb creates on his own, based on songs from this era. We will be playing a few arrangements Lucian has done in the past and songs you may have heard vocalist Laura Windley perform, but the majority of the material will be new. Most importantly, this music will swing!
How many people will be in the band?
Right now, we really like the idea of having either a 7 or 8 piece band, giving us either a 3 or 4 piece rhythm section with 3 horns, plus a vocalist. With this format, we are able to play arrangements of big band or smaller group charts, giving us a fuller sound than a jazz combo. We are also able to offer a more affordable alternative to a big band.
Will you have a smaller group?
Unfortunately, we will not have a smaller group. We understand that this limits the venues we can play, especially locally, but we are more interested in creating a specific sound.
Who is going to be in the band?
We’d like to have a set lineup, but in the jazz world this is not always possible – some of our band members have bands of their own, so we are fortunate enough to have other jazz musicians that we have worked with in the past to fill their shoes. You can be sure you will see Peter Lamb (sax), Al Strong (trumpet), Aaron Tucker (drums), Jason Foureman (bass), Aaron Hill (sax), Rich Willey (trumpet), Kyle Santos (trumpet), Mark Wells (piano), and other great jazz musicians from the Triangle and beyond who we enjoy performing with and will lend their unique talents to this endeavor.
When will you be ready to play?
The goal is to be ready in March and, indeed, we’ve already got gigs in March 2012 and beyond! For more details, see our calendar page. We do have a show on February 23 for RDU Rent Party – we invite everyone to come to this sneak preview!
Where will you play?
Our bread and butter will be swing dances, and we’ve already got a wedding on the books. We are also available for community events, outdoor festivals, jazz societies, schools, private parties, charity events/fundraisers, historic and reenactment-related events, and, really, anywhere that people enjoy music. We are looking to travel outside of the Triangle area of North Carolina and would welcome gig opportunities in other cities.
After a week of brainstorming and polling our friends on Facebook, Lucian Cobb and I have a name for the new band we are forming: Mint Julep Jazz Band!
We are excited about having a name because this means we can start marketing the band and setting up all those things bands need, like a website, business cards, a Facebook page, and other identity-related things. It’s hard to book a band without a name, right?
Speaking of booking, we are also excited to announce that the Mint Julep Jazz Band already has two gigs lined up for next year, a wedding and a Lindy exchange – we’ll be playing the Queen City Lindy Exchange in Charlotte, NC on March 10, 2012!
In light of recent events and a lot of questions from friends and fans, I feel the need to clarify a few things. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Atomic Rhythm All-Stars bandleader, George Knott, terminating my involvement with the band as the vocalist and as the marketing person for the band. My involvement was terminated over a dispute regarding intellectual property rights. As of two weeks ago, I will no longer be performing with the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars and have been removed from all future performance dates.
I’d like to thank those of you who have been supportive of me during this time. It’s tough to pour your heart and soul into a project for three years, use your contacts to obtain gigs for the band, invest time and effort into developing an online presence and fan base, share in the joys and woes of being part of a band, and see something you got into on the ground floor grow and flourish, only to have your efforts and talents be deemed unnecessary.
To borrow from lyrics, the song is ended, but the melody lingers on…after hearing the news, my friends expressed that I should start my own band. I discussed this with my husband, trombone player and arranger Lucian Cobb, who is leaving the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars as well, and we both decided that we love this music too much to stop playing it. As our options for joining other bands as regular members are non-existent in Raleigh/Durham, we will be forming our own group to play 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s jazz, featuring Lucian’s arrangements from Atomic and many more new arrangements. We will also need a band name, equipment, ideas for songs, a book, a website, and gigs, among other things I’m sure we haven’t considered. It’s hard to start all over again, but, hopefully, we will continue our dreams of playing vintage jazz music and share the joy of this music through a different conduit.
We already have a gig on the books for next year and are accepting gigs for dates in March 2012 and beyond. Thank you to everyone who has faith in my abilities as a vocalist, organizer, and business-woman. I look forward to performing for you again!
Peter Lamb and the Wolves will play a concert at the Carrboro Arts Center this Sunday, October 2, 2011. I will be joining the Wolves onstage for a few songs and so will Lucian Cobb, the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars‘ trombone player extraordinaire.
From the Arts Center website:
“The dance floor will be open for Peter Lamb and The Wolves’ Arts Center debut! Named best Jazz group in the Triangle, this young quintet lives up to their fairy-tale namesakes. The Wolves peddle languid sophistication that is always a little bit dangerous–their repertoire reaches back to New Orleans’ earliest syncopaters but also forward to hipster bards like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. http://www.peterlambandthewolves.com. Recommended for fans of: James Hunter, Sam Cooke.”
Single Admission: $11
Members Single Admission: $9
Day-of-show non-members: $13
Get your tickets in advance through the Carrboro Arts Center’s website: http://artscenterlive.org/event/performance/527
During the Southside Stomp dance on May 21, 2011, Victor Celania took some video of George Knott’s Square Trio playing with me on vocals. Here are two videos Victor posted, one of us performing “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and the other is “Darktown Strutter’s Ball.” George on guitar and banjo, Mark Wells on piano, and Lucian Cobb on trombone. Thanks, Victor!
This coming weekend I’ll be heading to Norfolk, Virginia for The Southside Stomp: Carolina Invasion swing dance on Saturday, May 21, 2011. The Atomic Rhythm All-Stars‘ trio offshoot, commonly known as George Knott’s Square Trio, will be playing the dance, with George Knott on Guitar, Mark Wells on piano, and Lucian Cobb on trombone. The Carolina Fascinators will also be debuting their new routine at this event, so this is all very exciting! Great jazz, a new performance, and a great dance hosted by Bill Speidel and Victor Celania.
Laura Windley 