Photo by Ines Kaiser

On Friday, March 9th, Darcy James Argue and his acclaimed big band Secret Society will return to Brooklyn’s Galapagos Art Space, where they celebrated the release of their GRAMMY® nominated 2009 debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records), for a special double-bill with the new music collective Anti-Social Music.

The music will begin at 7:00 p.m. with Anti-Social Music (ASM) performing archival music from 11tet, a now-defunct jazz composers workshop from the late 1990′s, as well as new works written for ASM by Kamala Sankaram, Dan Lasaga and Pat Muchmore. The group’s members include Franz Nicolay (Hold Steady), Peter Hess (Balkan Beat Box), Jean Cook (Jon Langford, Ida), Ed RosenBerg (jerseyband) and John Wriggle (Ex Caminos).

Secret Society will follow with a set featuring Vijay Iyer’s “Three Fragments” and David T. Little’s “Conspiracy Theory”, two pieces commissioned by the band and premiered at the Ecstatic Music Festival in February 2011, as well as a suite of original music from the score of Brooklyn Babylon and other selections from the ensemble’s growing catalog.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Advance tickets are available online for $20.

Learn more about Anti-Social Music and Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society at http://antisocialmusic.org and http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

Photo: James Daniel

On Friday, January 6th and Saturday, January 7th, Darcy James Argue and his 18-piece big band Secret Society will perform at Jazz Gallery in New York.

This two-night stand, coinciding with the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference, will feature sets at 9:00 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for Jazz Gallery members and can be purchased online in advance or at the door (subject to availability). Free tickets are available to conference badge-holders who make reservations in advance at info@jazzgallery.org

Secret Society’s first club dates since May, these concerts directly follow its widely acclaimed November performances of the multimedia extravaganza Brooklyn Babylon in collaboration with graphic artist Danijel Zezelj at Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the 2011 Next Wave Festival. Learn more in this video preview.

Reviewers called the innovative project “a true audio-visual treat” (Mia Drane-Maury, Beyond Race) and “a fully staged, fully integrated sight-and-sound performance” (Peter Matthews, Feast Of Music), and noted its “visual splendor and musical majesty of the type not often experienced” (Ralph A. Miriello, Huffington Post) and “originality, power, and beauty that left an audience slack-jawed” (David Krasnow, WNYC’s Studio 360).

“Expanding his sonic palette as never before,” added The Wall Street Journal‘s Tad Hendrickson in his preview feature, “Mr. Argue consciously integrated music from different cultures of Brooklyn for the multimedia piece by adding elements of Balkan brass, French café music and even marching-band music.”

At Jazz Gallery, Secret Society will perform selections from the Brooklyn Babylon score as well as other as-yet-unrecorded pieces in addition to selections from its GRAMMY® nominated debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records).

Learn more about Darcy James Argue and Secret Society at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

Tonight at 8:00 p.m., Brooklyn-based composer Darcy James Argue and his innovative 18-piece big band Secret Society will perform at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston.

The group’s set will feature the American premiere of music from the first three chapters of Brooklyn Babylon, its forthcoming multimedia collaboration with graphic artist Danijel Zezelj, as well as selections from its highly acclaimed debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records).

Tickets ($25 for non-members and $20 for members, students and seniors) are available in person at the MFA ticketing desk, by phone at 1-800-440-6975 and online at http://www.mfa.org

Front of house seating is available for an additional $5.

Argue, who earned his Master’s Degree at Boston’s New England Conservatory in 2002, last brought his acclaimed ensemble to the area in February 2010 when the band made its local debut at Regattabar in Harvard Square.

“There’s nothing else like Secret Society in today’s jazz scene,” declared the Boston Globe‘s Steve Greenlee in his review of the show. “Though he leads a big band, Argue is not stuck in the past. His music, which relies as much on hard rock as swing, is ambitious, relevant, and alive.”

Since then, Secret Society has become one of the most talked about groups in jazz, earning such high profile accolades as a GRAMMY® nomination, Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards for Up & Coming Artist of the Year and Large Ensemble of the Year, and first-place finishes in the Rising Star Big Band, Rising Star Composer and Rising Star Arranger categories in the DownBeat Critics’ Poll.

The band has also performed at such prestigious venues as Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Merkin Concert Hall and The Kennedy Center, and at world renowned festivals including CareFusion Jazz Festival Newport, the London Jazz Festival and the TD Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

“Argue has managed to not just keep Secret Society together as a vehicle for his innovative writing,” explains AllAboutJazz.com’s John Kelman in a recent review, “but as a means for its musicians to develop a language and a familiarity with each other that’s clearly paying big dividends.”

JazzTimes‘ Michael J. West adds, “With their haunting compositions and imaginative experiments, Argue’s Secret Society might do for jazz what Radiohead did for rock—and poach some of its audience, too.”

Learn more about Darcy James Argue and Secret Society at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

This Sunday, Brooklyn-based composer Darcy James Argue and his 18-piece big band Secret Society will embark on their first-ever Canadian tour.

The first stop is Argue’s hometown of Vancouver where the acclaimed ensemble will perform at the historic Vogue Theatre as part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

Concerts at the TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival (June 28th) and the TD Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (June 29th) will follow before the tour concludes at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival on Thursday, June 30th.

All four events are supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which enables Canadian audiences to discover artists from other regions and provinces, and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International (USAI) in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Sunday, June 26th at 9:00 p.m.
Vogue Theatre
918 Granville Street in Vancouver, BC
Tickets are $30 ($28 students and seniors)

Tuesday, June 28th at 10:30 p.m.
OLG Stage at Confederation Park
100 Elgin Street in Ottawa, ON
Tickets are $22.60

Wednesday, June 29th at 6:00 p.m.
Théâtre du Gésu
1200 de Bleury in Montreal, QC
Tickets are $32.47

Thursday, June 30th at 5:30 p.m.
The Outdoor Stage at Metro Square
221 King Street West in Toronto, ON
Free admission

Learn more about Darcy James Argue at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

Tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m., Brooklyn-based composer/bandleader Darcy James Argue and his acclaimed 18-piece big band Secret Society will headline the 16th Annual Western Connecticut State University Jazz Festival at Ives Concert Hall in Danbury, Connecticut.

The group, which just announced its plans to tour major Canadian jazz festivals this June, will present selections from its GRAMMY® nominated debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records), as well as more recent material.

Two student ensembles will open the show at 7:00 p.m., followed by a short intermission before Secret Society’s set.

Advance tickets are available online at http://www.wcsu.edu/tickets and by phone at (203) 837-8499.

Learn more about Darcy James Argue and Secret Society at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

This June, Brooklyn-based composer Darcy James Argue and his 18-piece big band Secret Society will embark on a four-city tour of prominent Canadian jazz festivals.

The first stop is Sunday, June 26th in Argue’s hometown of Vancouver where the acclaimed ensemble will perform at the historic Vogue Theatre as part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Performances at the TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival (June 28th) and the TD Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (June 29th) will follow before the tour concludes at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival on Thursday, June 30th.

All four events are supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which enables Canadian audiences to discover artists from other regions and provinces, and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International (USAI) in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Sunday, June 26th at 9:00 p.m.
Vogue Theatre
918 Granville Street in Vancouver, BC
Tickets are $30 ($28 students and seniors)

Tuesday, June 28th at 10:30 p.m.
OLG Stage at Confederation Park
100 Elgin Street in Ottawa, ON
Tickets are $22.60

Wednesday, June 29th at 6:00 p.m.
Théâtre du Gésu
1200 de Bleury in Montreal, QC
Tickets are $32.47

Thursday, June 30th at 5:30 p.m.
The Outdoor Stage at Metro Square
221 King Street West in Toronto, ON
Free admission

These high-profile concerts are the latest in a long string of recent career highlights for Argue and the group, which has been credited with “a wholly original take on big band’s past, present and future” (Seth Colter Walls, Newsweek). This year alone they have been profiled in The Canadian Press, performed for the first time at such world renowned venues as The Kennedy Center and Merkin Concert Hall, collaborated with critically acclaimed pianist/composer Vijay Iyer among others, and earned a GRAMMY® nomination for their highly regarded debut recording, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records).

In 2010, Argue won both Up & Coming Artist and Large Ensemble of the Year at the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards in New York, and topped the Big Band Rising Star, Composer Rising Star and Arranger Rising Star categories in the 2010 DownBeat Critics Poll, while also being recognized in the Jazz Album of the Year and Jazz Artist Rising Star categories. The group was also nominated for a 2010 JUNO Award and performed at such other noteworthy jazz festivals as CareFusion Jazz Festival New York, CareFusion Jazz Festival Newport and the London Jazz Festival.

Learn more about Darcy James Argue at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

Darcy James Argue‘s Secret Society returns to Iridium Jazz Club in New York tonight for sets at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.

This will be the GRAMMY® nominated 18-piece big band’s third appearance at the venue (audio from its September 22nd performance is available here), and its first New York concert of the Spring following collaborations with presenter Search and Restore and fellow postmodern big band Fight The Big Bull in January, and composers Vijay Iyer, Nicole Lizée and David T. Little in February.

Tickets are available online and by phone at (212) 582-2121.

Learn more about Secret Society at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

On Wednesday, January 5th at 6:00 p.m., Darcy James Argue and his 18-piece big band Secret Society made their Washington, D.C. debut at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage.

The entire 50-minute performance can be streamed from the Kennedy Center’s Web site here, and four new highlights have just been added to the group’s YouTube channel.

Transit:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK_2xrvUckU&feature=player_embedded

Phobos:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tVyoBf1eTI&feature=player_embedded

Induction Effect:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_f6hgQ085s&feature=player_embedded

Obsidian Flow:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrWWp0vnzfA&feature=player_embedded

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

On Saturday, April 30th at 8:00 p.m., Darcy James Argue and his acclaimed 18-piece big band Secret Society will headline the 16th Annual Western Connecticut State University Jazz Festival at Ives Concert Hall in Danbury, Connecticut.

“The focus of the festival is for bands, ranging in age from middle school to college undergraduate, to have the opportunity to work with, and be inspired by, some of the leading jazz figures of our time in a non-competitive environment,” explains WCSU’s Jazz Studies Program Coordinator, Jamie Begian.

Two student ensembles will open the show at 7:00 p.m., followed by a short intermission before Secret Society’s set. The group, which has already performed at such prominent venues as The Kennedy Center and Merkin Concert Hall in New York this year, will present selections from its GRAMMY® nominated debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records), as well as more recent material.

This longstanding festival, which has hosted such other notable ensembles as the Chick Corea Trio, Roy Haynes Quartet, Danilo Pérez Trio, Cedar Walton Quartet and the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, is a joint production of the school’s Student Government Association and Jazz Studies Area.

Advance tickets are available for $15 (adults) and $10 (senior citizens and non-WCSU students) both online at http://www.wcsu.edu/tickets and by phone at (203) 837-8499.

Learn more about Darcy James Argue and Secret Society at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

The results of Cadence‘s 2010 Record Poll are included in the Jan/Feb/Mar issue now reaching subscribers.

We’re proud to report the following client releases were recognized by the voters in the New Issues category (new releases reviewed in the magazine in 2010).

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records)
Bill Dixon, Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12 Records)
John Hébert, Byzantine Monkey (Firehouse 12 Records)
KLANG, Tea Music (Allos Documents)
Peter Madsen Trio, The Litchfield Suite (Playscape Recordings)
Myra Melford’s Be Bread, The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 Records)
Joe Morris Quartet, Today On Earth (AUM Fidelity)
Michael Musillami Trio, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings)
The Fully Celebrated, Drunk On The Blood Of The Holy Ones (AUM Fidelity)
Fay Victor Ensemble, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music)