vocalist

Nevermore Jazz Ball and St. Louis Swing Dance Festival, November 5-8, 2015

I am pleased as punch to be taking my first trip to St. Louis, MO and the excitement is twofold – I have several old, dear friends who have moved there that I am excited to visit and I will be performing at the Nevermore Jazz Ball for two nights with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders! I hope to also take in some sights (re: vintage shopping) and look forward to listening to some great St. Louis bands at the event’s Cherokee Street Jazz Crawl – like a bar crawl (actually a bar crawl?) for Lindy Hoppers with different dance bands at each bar/venue. See you soon, St. Louis!

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.

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:

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! 😀

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!

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!

Swing Into Spring with Michael Gamble and his Rhythm Serenaders

It’s back to back weekends singing with Michael Gamble and his Rhythm Serenaders, this time I’ll be heading south to warmer climates for Swing Into Spring, a weekend of swing dance workshops in Columbia, South Carolina. We’ll be performing at the Saturday night main dance on February 14, 2015 from 8:00 p.m. to midnight. Come spend Valentines Day with us! 😉 For more information on the weekend, visit the Swing Into Spring website.

Laura Windley

Hot jazz and swing vocalist