On Friday, December 11, 2015, tune into WUNC from noon to 1:00 p.m., we’ll be appearing on The State of Things, hosted by Frank Stasio! Frank will interview bandleaders Laura Windley and Lucian Cobb, and the Mint Julep Quintet will play a few tunes – we’ll be talking about our performances and travels from the past year and the release of our new album, Battle Axe!
The official release date for digital copies of the Mint Julep Jazz Band’s new album, Battle Axe, is July 14! Digital copies will be available on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, just about anywhere digital copies are sold. Physical CD copies should be available for purchase online shortly thereafter. Our Kickstarter digital backers will receive theirs slightly before this date and our Kickstarter physical backers should start to receive their copies around this date. Huzzah!
Also, check out our fantastic album cover art, thanks to graphic designer and electronic music artist extraordinaire Judson Cowan (aka Tettix)!
The Mint Julep Jazz Band will be performing at Austin, Texas’ unique and awesome event, Hot Rhythm Holiday, a weekend of dances, workshops, and live music focusing on the dances Balboa and Collegiate Shag. This is the band’s first fly-out gig and we’re excited, but hope everything goes well at the airport. Cross your fingers for no delays! Once we get there on January 17, we hope we’ll have the afternoon to explore a Austin a bit before we perform at The Fed that night. We’ll be sharing the stage with Austin’s own Thrift Set Orchestra for four sets of live music at the Saturday night dance!
We’re up and running on the Kickstarter for our new album, Battle Axe – visit our Kickstarter page to pre-order the album and pick up some great backer rewards!
The Mint Julep Jazz Band is the first runner up for best musical artist/band in the 2014 Best of Durham Awards, sponsored by Durham Magazine! We are so grateful to even be in the running for this, so thank you to everyone who voted – we were inched out of the first place spot (which we won in 2013) by Sylvan Esso, a nationally touring indie folk band who relocated to Durham in 2013. Check it out in Durham Magazine’s August 2014 issue or on their website!
Does this mean we are still Durham’s best jazz band? 😉
The Mint Julep Jazz Band is excited to be invited to provide music for Our State Magazine‘s Music in the Library video series, which shares and highlights songs from North Carolina musical artists filmed at Our State Magazine’s headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina. We filled up their cozy library space with eight musicians, swing, and hot jazz on a hot June afternoon and the results came out great, using just three microphones and three cameras.
We are also featured in the magazine’s August issue – pick one up from your local North Carolina newsstand!
The band recorded “Swingtime in Honolulu,” “Rock it for Me,” and our original tune (composed by alto/clarinet/soprano sax mad man, Keenan McKenzie) “Miami Boulevard” – visit the Our State YouTube channel for all the videos from this series!
We had a photo shoot this past Saturday with two great photographers, Ashley Warren and Alexandrea Thomsen – we love the results! You can check out the full albums at Ashley N Warren Photography and Dtownperspective (scroll down to see MJJB). Here are some of our favorites:
Mint Julep Jazz Band 