Event

Shake em Up Jazz Band

In June of 2016, Shaye Cohn assembled an all-female cast of traditional jazz musicians to perform for Girls Rock New Orleans. Requests to play started pouring in, the band agreed theyd love to continue working together. Although Shaye wouldnt be able to continue with the band as a full-time member, Haruka Kikuchi joined up, bringing along her Kid Ory-inspired trombone. Marla, Chloe, Haruka, Molly, Julie, and Dizzy have been playing together since that first performance.

On the strength of their first performances, and because of the stellar reputations of the individual musicians, Shake Em Up was immediately booked as a special guest at the Abita Springs Opry, the Nevermore Jazz Ball and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy. The band has also enjoyed a steady stream of bookings at various New Orleans clubs, including Preservation Hall, and is looking forward to making their debut at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April 2018.

In June 2017, Shake Em Up headed into Bunny Friend Studio (brainchild of Shake Em Ups own Molly Reeves) and recorded a ten-track session under the title Le Donne Mangiano Zuchero. Shake Em Up is excited to head into the studio again in January 2018 to record an album featuring women composers from the 1910s-1930s.