by on

We are excited to be the headlining (and only) band at this year’s Eastern Balboa Championships, October 31 through November 2, 2013! This event, in its last year, has been the flagship event in the Southeast for Balboa and we are proud to be a part of its traditions of ninjas, fairies, nerf hunting, and sumo wrestling…and dancing Balboa to excellent swing music. See you Saturday night for some serious shuffling!

Come see us perform on November 2, 2013 from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. at the North Raleigh Hilton. Admission is included with weekend pass holders, $20 a la carte gets you into the main dance and the late night DJ’d dance.

sitecircuslogo

by on

2773742827_3387695de0_z

We can’t tell you how excited we are to be performing at Glen Echo Park‘s illustrious and gorgeous Art Deco era ballroom, the Spanish Ballroom where many of the great bands of the swing era have performed! Join us for a night of dancing in DC at this historic venue, courtesy of our hosts, DC’s Jam Cellar.

Glen Echo Park
7300 MacArthur Blvd.
Glen Echo, MD

9 p.m. to midnight, admission is $16.

by on

image

This past weekend the hosts of Yehoodi‘s talk show Swing Nation hosted a live stream of the International Lindy Hop Championships, held in Washington, D.C. – the Mint Julep Jazz Band tune “Miami Boulevard” (penned by our very own Keenan McKenzie) was featured as the theme song for the broadcast! You can view archives of the broadcast on Justin.tv and check it out, as well as all of the world class Lindy Hop dancers in the competitions.

by on

The sound quality is a little iffy, but here we are performing at All Balboa Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio! We had a great time being a part of the weekend back in June, which definitely has us looking forward to returning to Cleveland in February for SparX at Case Western Reserve University. Until then, enjoy this little Chick Webb and Ella Fitzgerald tune – special thanks to Douglas Kaufman for filming and for sharing on YouTube:

by on

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.

jazz-lives