Vintage jazz dancer, DJ, songbird, blogger

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MJJB DOSN CD Cover

If you’ve got a family member who would really enjoy our music or maybe you’d like to get a little gift for yourself, you can take advantage of CD Baby’s 1 cent shipping offer – from November 30 through December 4, 2015, CD Baby will ship all physical copies of albums they sell for 1 cent, no matter how many CDs you buy no matter where you live in the world! CD Baby is the only place you can buy physical copies of our albums outside of our shows, so this is definitely the place to do your MJJB holiday shopping. 🙂

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On November 13, 2015, the 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.

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The Duck Jazz Festival is one of the best experiences we have had as a band – this community cares about jazz and puts on a thoughtful and perfectly executed event that draws jazz fans and music lovers from the outer banks of North Carolina and beyond. Thanks so much to the Town of Duck for creating such a fantastic music festival and inviting us to be a part of it!

Thanks to Alexandrea Lassiter of Dtownperspective for taking almost all of these photos and documenting our trip!

The jam session on Saturday night of the festival.
The jam session on Saturday night of the festival at The Blue Point.
There are wild horses statues throughout Duck, in honor of the wild horses that roam the dunes on the outer banks.
There are wild horses statues throughout Duck, in honor of the wild horses that roam the dunes on the outer banks.
Duck Donuts across from our hotel!
Duck Donuts across from our hotel!
Setting up at the Duck Jazz Festival main stage.
Setting up at the Duck Jazz Festival main stage.
Performing Ducky Wucky at the Duck Jazz Festival!
Performing Ducky Wucky at the Duck Jazz Festival!
A full band shot.
A full band shot.
The crowded lawn at the Duck Jazz Festival.
The crowded lawn at the Duck Jazz Festival.
Signing autographs at the merch table after our performance.
Signing autographs at the merch table after our performance.
Our trumpeter Paul Rogers signs a Duck Jazz Festival poster, featuring the silhouette of Maceo Parker, the festival headliner.
Our trumpeter Paul Rogers signs a Duck Jazz Festival poster, featuring the silhouette of Maceo Parker, the festival headliner.
That's a wrap - love you, Duck!
That’s a wrap – love you, Duck!

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We had such a great time last night at our Battle Axe album release party at Blue Note Grill! Here are some photos from this momentous occasion, thanks so much to everyone who came out to the show!

Photograph courtesy of Brian Fennessy.
Photograph courtesy of Brian Fennessy.
Snapped from the stage.
Snapped from the stage.
Blue Note Grill had some great Halloween decorations!
Blue Note Grill had some great Halloween decorations!
Backstage shot, courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.
Backstage shot, courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.
Photograph courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.
Photograph courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.
Photograph courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.
Photograph courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.
A full house! Photograph courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.
A full house! Photograph courtesy of Alexandrea Lassiter.

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To celebrate the release of the Mint Julep Jazz Band’s new album Battle Axe, we are going to do a Front to Back concert, wherein we perform the entirety of Battle Axe from track 1 all the way through track 16 in order!

This is a free show at the wonderful new Blue Note Grill location near the old Durham Bulls field in the warehouse district – there will be much more room to dance! Join us for dinner at 8:00 p.m., show begins at 9:00 p.m. and runs until we finish!

If you still need to pick up a copy of the album, we’ll have plenty on hand at the show, or you can buy it just about anywhere digital music is sold – CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify…

See you Wednesday! Try the ribs!

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HOa0H7rH

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.

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On Friday, September 25, 2015, we’ll head west, over the mountains to Tennessee for the Knoxville Lindy Exchange! This weekend’s live music lineup features some great swing bands based in the Southeast, including the Gamble Wilson Swing Orchestra (Asheville/Hendersonville), Michael Gamble and his Rhythm Serenaders (Asheville), Knoxville’s own Scruffy City Syncopators, and yours truly representing Durham, NC. This promises to be a great swing dance event, come one come all from the corners of the southeast and beyond!

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Thanks so much to Michael Steinman of the Jazz Lives blog for this detailed and wonderful review of Battle Axe! We are 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 – 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.

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We are excited to be a part of Richmond, Virginia’s inaugural I Heart Balboa, a mini-workshop weekend occurring September 4-5, 2015. The weekend features Balboa instructors Kate Hedin, David Rehm, Chelsea Lee, and David Lee, and the Mint Julep Jazz Band is performing at the Saturday night dance at The Dance Space in Richmond. We hear they are close to selling out, so get your weekend pass or your dance pass soon!