workshop

Late Summer Shows

By land and by air, I’ll be all over the place for a bit:

August 25-26, 2018 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at The International Lindy Hop Championships, Arlington, VA – excited to be a part of this esteemed and exciting event, to perform for such an enthusiastic jazz audience and to enjoy all the incredible performances that happen over the weekend from dancers all over the world.

August 31 and September 3, 2018 Mint Julep Jazz Band and with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at Camp Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA – I’ll be DJ’ing and singing, and this is the Mint Julep Jazz Band’s west coast debut! A little birdie told me that Jean Veloz will be dancing to our live music in the teacher jam and that’s about all my little heart can handle. ❤

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September 8, 2018 with Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders at the Triangle Swing Dance Society Dance, Durham, NC – we’ll welcome the students back into town and swing the eff out!

CANCELLED DUE TO HURRICANE September 12, 2018 Mint Julep Jazz Band at The Town of Cary’s Park After Dark, Cary, NC – our first performance for the Town of Cary, we’ll send out the summer outdoor concert season in style. –> RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 3, 2018

CANCELLED DUE TO HURRICANE September 15, 2018 Mint Julep Jazz Band at Triangle Swing Dance Society dance, Carrboro, NC – always happy to be playing on our home turf!

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September 21-22, 2018 with the Classic City Swing All-Stars, Classic City Swing, Athens, GA – excited to be a part of this all-star band, which will perform the music of three bands (The Boilermaker Jazz Band, Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders, and the Mint Julep Jazz Band) and feature a lineup including Paul Cosentino, Keenan McKenzie, Gordon Au, Lucian Cobb, Russ Wilson, Michael Gamble, Chip Newton, and yours truly, plus special guests Naomi Uyama and Jon Tigert!

October 3, 2018 Mint Julep Jazz Band at The Town of Cary’s Park After Dark, Cary, NC – our first performance for the Town of Cary, we’ll send out the summer outdoor concert season in style, fingers crossed, for real this time…

Much to be excited about, I hope to see you out and about!

School of Hard Knox – March 23-24, 2018

22730119_1423315634384476_5301930625398209716_n I’ll be Knoxville-bound soon enough, but this is an extra special weekend because Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders Orchestra will have its debut performance at the Saturday night main dance at School of Hard Knox! If you’ve been following the transcriptions projects and Indiegogo.com campaigns for Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford, and (soon to be launched) Lionel Hampton, you’ll know that Michael has spearheaded this endeavor and has all these great big band charts that should really continue to be heard outside of once a year at Lindy Focus. It is my understanding that his new orchestra will be a showcase for these charts and bandleaders, so that more people can hear them, learn about them, and spread the love to other bandleaders, educators, music lovers, dancers, really anyone who may take an interest in this music. Michael will probably also have some other things up his sleeve, so this will, at least in part, be a surprise for me as well!

If you are interested in learning more about what charts are available right now, visit the Heritage Sounds website – we are still in the process of clearing licenses for many more arrangements (which takes a long time), so stay tuned!

If you are interested in dancing, come take classes and dance at School of Hard Knox – there’s a stellar instructor lineup for the weekend, great DJs, and shenanigans to be had!

Classic City Swing – Athens, GA September 16-17, 2016

The Mint Julep Jazz Band‘s very first gig in Georgia will be Classic City Swing, a weekend of workshops and dances in Athens, Georgia! We’ll be playing the Friday night and Saturday night main dances at the New Dance Theater on the University of Georgia’s campus. Don’t worry, it’s not a home football game weekend, so you can avoid the traffic and the parking issues! With a large lineup of instructors, this promises to be a big weekend of dancing – for more information, visit the Classic City Swing website.

Whistle Stop 2015 – Purdue University

On November 13, 2015, the Mint Julep Jazz Band will take its longest road trip to date, to West Lafayette, Indiana for Purdue University’s annual swing dance workshop weekend, Whistle Stop 2015! We’ll be performing on Friday and Saturday night at the main dances for the event on Purdue University’s campus. We’ll also have some free time on Saturday – what does one do in West Lafayette? If you have any suggestions, drop us a line!

For more information about the event (hosted and organized by Purdue Night Train, the university’s swing dance club), visit the event Facebook page, which is serving as the event website – they have a great lineup of instructors and The Fried Bananas will be dishing out the tunes for the late night dances.

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!

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.

Jammin’ on the James – October 17-19, 2014

For my birthday weekend I’ll be heading north to our sister scene in Richmond, Virginia to DJ for the 12th annual Jammin’ on the James – a weekend of Lindy Hop workshops and dances in one of my favorite venues, the Lewis Ginter Recreation Association. This year’s instructors are Marie Mattsson, Skye Humphries, Naomi Uyama, Peter Strom and live music provided by Naomi & Her Handsome Devils, the Blue Crescent Syncopators, and the Doctors of Jazz. Not to mention all the excellent vintage shopping – come check out this cool city and swing out with us!

The Process – July 18, 2014

The Mint Julep Jazz Band will kick off the weekend festivities at The Process, a Lindy Hop workshop weekend in Richmond, Virginia on Friday, July 18, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. The Process is a new event, in its first year, and seeks to answer the question, “What is the process guiding Lindy Hoppers to rapid improvement?” in its workshops throughout the weekend. With a great lineup of instructors (Casey Schneider & Mike Faltesek; Jaya Dorf & Michael Gamble; Chelsea & David Lee; Mike Herring; Abigail Browning & Adam Speen; and Sparrow Pants) and live music by The Low Down Sires, 504 Supreme, and Gypsy Roots, it looks like it will be a rumpus in Richmond! For more information visit The Process website.

October 24, 2013 – RDU Rent Party: Philly Invasion Edition featuring Perseverance Jazz Band

On October 24th, the City of Brotherly Love is sending some love our way. No, we are not erecting a statue of Rocky (or Jason posing as Rocky) at TDS, but we will be getting some swing love in the form of the Perseverance Jazz Band.

This New Orleans inspired band has been keeping Philly dance floors hopping for some time now and is making a pilgrimage south which naturally has to include a stop at RDU Rent Party. They will also be christening the first Rent Party dance in the new Lindy Lab studio at TDS, meaning this is the first band that gets to start at 8 and not have to work their way around Salsa classes to setup. So they’ll be fresh and ready to come out swingin’ for a knockout of a dance.

In addition, Ms. Breanna Perry, also of Philadelphia, will be accompanying the band, spinning tunes for the night and teaching a solo Charleston workshop from 7-8. So we’ll be forgoing the normal beginner lesson to give everyone a shot at picking up some of Breanna’s hot moves and we imagine there will be a multitude of Charleston jams accompanying the band at this dance.

Suggested price for the dance is $10 and a suggested additional $5 for the workshop which will be collected in a separate hat. As always, all money collected goes directly to the entertainers.

Triangle Dance Studio – Lindy Lab Studio (look for the orange door frame)
2603 S. Miami Blvd.
Durham, NC

Beginner solo Charleston lesson from 7-8 p.m.

Dance from 8-11 p.m.

Be My Jazz Baby, January 20-22, 2012

I am excited to be performing at the very first Be My Jazz Baby, a weekend of workshops and dances in Norfolk, Virginia, January 20-22, 2012. Bill Speidel and Victor Celania have put together a fantastic schedule, featuring instructors Michael Gamble, Jaya Dorf, Adam Speen, and Abigail Browning, with Drew Nugent and the Midnight Society of Philadelphia bringing their raucous jazz age tunes to both Friday and Saturday night dances. I’ll be singing a few tunes with Drew and the boys!

Bill and Victor have also made arrangements for a number of vendors to attend Be My Jazz Baby, so Lindy Shopper will be on hand to get the scoop. 😉 Looking forward to Be My Jazz Baby!

Laura Windley

Hot jazz and swing vocalist