Join us on June 10, 2023 from noon to 3:00 p.m. for an afternoon of picnicking, dancing, and relaxing on the lawn at Durham’s Orchard Park, with live music by your hosts, the Mint Julep Jazz Band. Inspired by the Jazz Age Lawn Party in New York and similar events in Boston and Richmond, this began as a socially distanced event in 2021 to great success following a long pandemic winter. Now an annual event, the Orchard Park Jazz Picnic draws jazz fans, vintage enthusiasts, regional swing dancers, and passersby who decide to derail that dog walk and join the fun.
This event is free and open to the public. We will have a virtual and physical tip jar for the band – if you’d like to tip in advance, you can Venmo to @Laura-Windley or PayPal to caab241@hotmail.com.
In the event of inclement weather, all updates will be posted in the Facebook event. If we have to cancel, this event will be rescheduled for a later date.
Thanks so much to Alexandrea Lassiter of Copper Key Photo for the incredible photos from last year!
We were pleasantly surprised to find our vinyl records were delivered this week, as we weren’t expecting them until May. You can pick up a copy on our Bandcamp page or message us in advance if you’d like to purchase an LP at one of our shows. Thanks again to our Kickstarter backers who made this dream a reality!
CDs! We have them! If you would like a physical copy of our new album Watch the Birdie, you can order one from our Bandcamp page, in all its glory. We splurged for the eco case and we have actual liner notes for you to read about the making of this album. Shout out to CIH Studios for the incredible album artwork, it’s thematic perfection.
Our album artwork was lovingly painted by the incredible Durham-based artist Darius Quarles.
(From our vocalist Laura Windley)
When I was young, I wondered why each subsequent band album seemed to have more and more years between albums, but now I understand. When a band does well, they are busy, then the members are busy contributing to other endeavors, and then people need a break after being so busy, so the thought of a new album is definitely lower on the priority list, particularly when other work is steady.
In 2020, we decided that 5 years was enough time gone by since the release of Battle Axe and that we should record another album. You know how the rest of this story goes with the global COVID-19 pandemic essentially putting a halt to life as we knew it.
We scheduled this recording a couple of times during the pandemic and had to keep pushing it back, but we believe it’s for real this time, so we are launching a Kickstarter today for album pre-orders and swag. I know some of you have told me that you need a new tee shirt, so we got you! I’m also excited to add enamel pins, Burt’s Bees, a sponsorship option, and some quality time noshing with yours truly as rewards, in addition to some of our recurring rewards.
What will this album be? It’s a dance album, of course, but it’s also the culmination of efforts aggregated just prior to the pandemic that still feel new to us, plus some new-to-us arrangements created during the pandemic, and some old favorites that should be put on tape. The project feels fresh to us, so we hope you enjoy it as we slowly re-open our jazz dance and music community.
It’s also a celebration of our 10th anniversary as a band! Our first gig was in February of 2012 at the (now defunct) Hot Club of Durham weekly swing dance in the Trotter Building in Durham’s DIY district. I look at videos of that night and think about how far we’ve come, but also how we did a respectable job for a very first gig. It’s been a wild ride and we thank you for all the wonderful musical experiences we’ve shared since then.
Visit our Kickstarter page for more information about the tracks on the album, swag, and how to get your copy/copies of our recordings – we’re offering digital, CD, and vinyl this time! You have 58 days to get your order in, the countdown begins…
We are excited to announce a double-nighter on the southern coast/Cape Fear area of North Carolina, which is a new area for us and I know some people are very excited to have us in their town for a little hot jazz listening and rug-cutting!
On Friday, January 10, 2020 we’ll be at the Hannah Block Historic USO in Wilmington, NC for a swing dance hosted by the Cape Fear Swing Dance Society – join us from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for dancing in this historic venue. Admission is $15.00. For more information visit the CFSDS website.
On Saturday, January 11, 2020 we will do a rare sit-down concert for Brunswick Community College’s Odell Williamson Auditorium in Bolivia, NC. We’ll plan a program of interesting tidbits and tasty tunes for your listening ears. For more information and to purchase advance tickets, visit the auditorium’s concert series website.
Lindy Island Swing Studio in Taipei, Taiwan posted a video of three dancers – Yoyo, Rex, and Jason – doing a routine to our recording of Six Jerks in a Jeep. We’re always so excited to find out that dancers all over the world are doing creative things with our music. Check it out!
The next two weekends are packed with great dancing and music and we’re excited to be a part of all of it! On July 6, 2019, find us at the historical Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom for the inaugural Red, White, & Bal, a Balboa Workshop weekend hosted by Capital City Swing. We’ll be performing from 9 p.m. to midnight – for more information, visit the event website.
On July 13, 2019, our hometown of Durham, NC is the backdrop for the Triangle Swing Dance Society’s first full-fledged Lindy Hop workshop weekend, the Bull City Swingout. We’ll be performing at another historic ballroom, the Durham Armory, from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. For more information, visit the BCS website.
We’ll be making our DCLX debut this year, performing at Glen Echo Park’s Spanish Ballroom for the Saturday late night (i.e. the wee hours of Sunday morning) from 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., following the main Saturday dance with the Jonathan Stout Orchestra. I know it’s late, but the dancing will be amazing all weekend, with 9 bands performing throughout the weekend – join us in DC the weekend of April 205-28, 2019!
Check out this video from Saturday night at Hot Rhythm Holiday, from some brave soul navigating the dance floor during our performance of Watch the Birdie (with an arrangement inspired by Martha Raye’s version from the movie Hellzapoppin’) – enjoy!
We are back at Glen Echo’s Spanish Ballroom on January 26, 2018 for a DCLX’tra swing dance – come swing out with us at this beautiful historic Art Deco ballroom! There will be at beginner Balboa lesson from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and we play three swinging sets, from 9:00 p.m. to midnight.
Consider this a warm-up for our return to DC in April to perform at DCLX proper!
Mint Julep Jazz Band 