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

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

Despite the fact that special guest Bob Brookmeyer was unable to join them as planned due to illness, Darcy James Argue‘s Secret Society played a well-received set on CareFusion Jazz Festival Newport‘s Harbor Stage this past Saturday morning.

The 18-piece big band performed “Blow-Out Prevention,” the piece written to feature Brookmeyer, as well as tracks from its acclaimed debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records), ending in a standing ovation from the crowd.

Thanks to WBGO and NPR, you can hear streaming audio of the entire 52-minute set here.