2014 Schedule
Interactive: March 7–11  •  Film: March 7–15  •  Music: March 11–16

Jitterbug Vipers

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“[Phoebe’s Dream] is a Dream come true.”
- Austin Chronicle -

"No Musical act embodies the "Keep Austin Weird" civic mantra with more style and class than the "swingadelic" quartet Jitterbug Vipers. The band's witty updating of classic 1930s reefer jive music, featuring septuagenarian guitar genius Slim Richey front and center, is sly, sophisticated and more than a little habit-forming."
- Downbeat Magazine -

The Jitterbug Vipers specialize in a cult jazz offshoot called “viper jazz,” a screeching U-Turn back to the party where jazz music packed the dance floor and dazzled the audience with brilliant streams of improvisatory musicianship.

Steeped in the ribald wit, quaint sophistication, and graceful virtuosity of classic artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, the Jitterbug Vipers make the sound their own. “We don’t think of ourselves as a jazz band,” says bassist Francie Meaux Jeaux. “We think of ourselves as a 1930s rock band. We just wail.” Raucous and refined, toking and swinging, the Austin-based quartet draws the crowd into its heady bliss whenever and wherever it takes the stage.

Most modern takes on the 20s and 30s feel stiff and rehearsed, long shackled by nostalgia and overly reverent revivalism. But the Jitterbug Vipers’ “swingadelic” tunes are a different story, full of energy and genuine surprises. Phoebe’s Dream captures the band at the peak of their powers, slinky and sultry, but also lighthearted and fun.

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