If you’ve purchased either of our albums – Durham on Saturday Night or Battle Axe – consider leaving us a review! We’d love to hear your thoughts on our music and I know people who may be considering picking up a copy would love to hear your thoughts, too.
Here are some helpful links:
Durham on Saturday Night –
iTunes
Bandcamp
Amazon
Battle Axe –
iTunes
Bandcamp
Amazon
Or leave one wherever else you may have purchased – thanks so much! We love you madly!
One of the signature tracks from our first album Durham on Saturday Night is the song One Girl and Two Boys, a classic tune performed originally by NC native Kay Kyser’s orchestra in the 1944 film Swing Fever. We love songs that tell a story, and so do dancers – it’s fun to see how people will put their own spin on this tale of a love triangle, so here are a few interpretations through dance choreography using MJJB’s recording of this song:
One of our favorite chorus girl troupes, New York City’s The Bathtub Ginnys:
A “Dance Wars Spectacular” with dancers Lisa Pearson, Dave Saylors, and Craig Johnston in the signature roles:
And, finally, the winner of the 2013 Jazz Dance Film Fest (and unofficially our first music video), spearheaded by and starring Seattle dancer Jennifer Lee:
Durhamites, be sure to pick up a copy of the April, 2016 issue of Durham Magazine for a feature on the Mint Julep Jazz Band! Durham Magazine writer Sophia Lucente interviewed Laura Windley, Lucian Cobb, and Keenan McKenzie to put together this snapshot of the band’s history and life in Durham. You can read the article (as well as the entire issue) online here or read just the article in an online-friendly format here.
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. 🙂
While we make preparations for launching our new album Kickstarter next year, we wonder if you’ve got a copy of our album or maybe a relative might like the gift of swing under their holiday tree?
We’re running a Cyber Monday special on our first album, Durham on Saturday Night, just to make sure your shopping gets covered at a better price – physical copies of our CD are usually $15.00 on CD Baby, but we’re running a one day sale on Monday, December 1 (EST), for $10.00.
Physical copies are easier to wrap than digital copies and for one day they will be the same price! Happy shopping!
It’s been a little over a year since we released our first album, “Durham on Saturday Night,” and the response to our album is consistently “we want more music – when are you recording another album?” I’m excited to announce that we will launch a Kickstarter for our second album in the early part of 2015 – it takes a lot of work to plan an album and run a Kickstarter, but this should give us a reasonable timeline to complete our goals and record an album in the spring/summer of 2015.
Stay tuned!
A year ago today, May 8, we released our first album “Durham on Saturday Night” – to celebrate one year of recorded bliss, we are doing a giveaway on Lindy Hop Problems – Click below to enter to win a free CD and other goodies! You have two weeks to get your entry in and then the winner will be chosen at random.
http://lindyhopproblems.tumblr.com/post/85117450654
And while you’re there you should look around – #lindyhopproblems is a great Tumblr blog and a pioneer of the lindy hop meme. You won’t be disappointed! 🙂
Deadline for submissions is May 21, 2014.
Just found this video from our recording session in January, 2013 – this is what it looked and sounded like when we recorded “Front and Center” for our album “Durham on Saturday Night” – thanks to Ashley Warren for the video!
Jazz writer and archivist Michael Steinman, author of the Jazz Lives blog, has written a great review of the Mint Julep Jazz Band’s “Durham on Saturday Night!”
“The MJJB is a small hot group — well-versed in playing for dancers, so they set swinging tempos and stick to them. Their ensemble work is beautifully precise without being stiff, and they really understand the subtle mysteries of swing rhythm…one of their main inspirations is youthful Ella Fitzgerald and the small group out of Chick Webb’s band — The Savoy Eight — and they evoke that sound perfectly without turning out pale note-for-note copies of the records. I heard evocations of Sandy Williams and Sidney Bechet, but also Al Grey and Howard McGhee.”
“Laura’s got her own sweet style with a serious rhythmic underpinning…her rich voice reminded me of young Ella — that hopeful, wistful, asking-for-love quality — but she can turn corners at a fast tempo, as she proves on the CD’s closer, the band’s romping version of Lil Armstrong’s HARLEM ON SATURDAY NIGHT.”
To read more, click here to view the post.
If you missed the interview with Laura Windley and Lucian Cobb on WXDU from May 19, 2013, talking with Divaville Lounge host Sarah Ovenall about the band, the making of “Durham on Saturday Night,” and background on tracks from the album, you can listen to the hour-long broadcast (interview and tracks from the album) by clicking here. Enjoy!
Mint Julep Jazz Band 