Jazz.com: The Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza

Photo by Chad Batka for The New York Times

Tim Wilkins’ wrap-up of last week’s Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza is now posted at Jazz.com.

The event, presented by SearchandRestore.com and hosted by Darcy James Argue, took place at The Bell House on October 19th and featured Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra, Andrew Durkin’s Industrial Jazz Group and Argue’s Secret Society.

Wilkins’ in-depth analysis includes interviews with SearchandRestore.com’s Adam Schatz and each of the bandleaders, as well as reviews of all three performances and the event’s impromptu finale.

“The evening had many surprises,” he writes, “foremost of which was the level of enthusiasm and imagination in a genre which has always been precarious for financial reasons, even in the best of times.”

In case you missed it, here’s Nate Chinen’s New York Times review from October 21st.

NY Times: The Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza

Photo by Chad Batka for The New York Times

Nate Chinen reviews Monday night’s Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza at The Bell House in today’s New York Times.

The performances of all three ensembles are recounted, including the headliners, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, which Chinen writes, “played a bracing final set” featuring “an array of backbeats, breakbeats and Latin American polyrhythm, with the flow largely dictated by Mr. Argue, who conducted with brisk, acute gestures.”

If you missed them on Monday, you can catch Argue and the band at tonight’s New Amsterdam Records/Cantaloupe Music CMJ Showcase at Le Poisson Rouge and on November 25th at Iridium Jazz Club.

Darcy James Argue Live Tonight And Wednesday

© 2009 Oliver Heisch/Moers Festival

New Yorkers will have two chances to catch Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society live in concert this week.

Tonight the group headlines SearchandRestore.com’s Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza, which will also feature The Industrial Jazz Group and Travis Sullivan’s Björkestra, at The Bell House.

Wednesday night’s performance will be part of the joint New Amsterdam Records/Cantaloupe Music CMJ Showcase, also featuring music by David Lang, Julia Wolfe and The NOW Ensemble, at Le Poisson Rouge.

New Darcy James Argue Download

Both sets of Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society performing at The Jazz Gallery on September 18th are now available for download.

“Secret Society doesn’t exactly swing so much as groove, stomp and sort of rock,” wrote Howard Mandel in his blog review of the show. “There’s a touch of minimalism somewhere in composer-conductor DJA’s background, and some very sly wit that stops well short of dire irony.”

If you like what you hear, please consider making a donation to cover the 18-piece band’s often overwhelming overhead costs through Fractured Atlas.

Darcy James Argue On NPR

In case you missed it, a story about Darcy James Argue and his innovative 18-piece big band Secret Society called “A Jazz Band Worth Blogging About” aired this afternoon on NPR’s All Things Considered.

The profile featured interviews by Patrick Jarenwattananon, who also posted additional thoughts and more quotes from Argue on NPR’s jazz blog, A Blog Supreme.

Darcy James Argue At CMJ October 21st

© 2009 Oliver Heisch/Moers Festival

Two weeks from tonight, on Wednesday, October 21st, Darcy James Argue and his acclaimed 18-piece big band, Secret Society, will perform as part of the Cantaloupe Music/New Amsterdam Records CMJ Music Marathon showcase at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge.

The event will also feature pianist Ning Yu performing music by David Lang, bagpipe player Matthew Welch performing music by Julia Wolfe and the NOW Ensemble performing a mix of New York premieres and older favorites.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the music begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 with free admission for CMJ Badge holders. Learn more at http://www.cmj.com/marathon

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society will also perform on October 19th at The Bell House in Brooklyn as part of SearchandRestore.com’s Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza and on November 25th at New York’s Iridium Jazz Club.

Darcy James Argue At Iridium November 25th

© 2009 Oliver Heisch/Moers Festival

On Wednesday, November 25th, composer/conductor Darcy James Argue and his acclaimed big band, Secret Society, will make their first-ever appearance at New York’s Iridium Jazz Club. The 18-piece ensemble, which released its highly regarded debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records), in May, will play two sets, beginning at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. For this performance, Argue and the band will welcome special guest drummer Kendrick Scott (Terence Blanchard, Jimmy Greene, Gretchen Parlato).

“Kendrick last played with Secret Society in November 2006 at the Bowery Poetry Club,” Argue explains, “and it’s a thrill to welcome him back into the fold. I’m a huge fan of his playing—he’s both highly inventive and sublimely grooving, and he’s an amazing listener. I’ve written a lot of music since he last played with us and I’m very excited to hear what Kendrick will bring to that material.” He adds, “I’m pleased our first performance at a marquee NYC jazz club happens to be at the one that’s been open-minded enough to host performances by groups like Anthony Braxton’s 12+1tet and the Cecil Taylor Big Band.”

Thanks to the phenomenal critical response to Infernal Machines, which gave credence to the strong word-of-mouth following the band has built over the past four years, Argue is one of 2009’s most talked about jazz musicians. Active as both a composer/bandleader and influential blogger, his recent career highlights include a series of features in jazz and non-jazz publications alike, three nominations in this year’s Jazz Journalists Association Awards and high profile concerts in New York as well as Germany, The Netherlands and his native Canada, where he conducted an all-star performance of a new, specially commissioned piece at the National Jazz Awards. Most recently, he was tapped to write the liner notes for Dave Douglas’ forthcoming big band release, A Single Sky (Greenleaf).

JazzTimes: Darcy James Argue + Joe Morris/Petr Cancura/Luther Gray

The new October issue of JazzTimes features reviews of Darcy James Argue’s Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam) and Joe Morris/Petr Cancura/Luther Gray’s Wildlife (AUM Fidelity).

“Infernal Machines is the future of the big band,” declares Michael J. West, “with leader Darcy James Argue presenting seven fiercely original and exciting compositions and arrangements for his 18-piece ensemble. His music is ambitious, experimental and complex, but in a sense far closer to indie rock with its immediacy and wide-ranging palette. 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.”

In his review of Wildlife, Mike Shanley writes, “Before too long, Joe Morris’ work as a bassist is going to eclipse his work as a guitarist—not that there’s anything wrong with that. Morris’ approach to the bull fiddle offers a solid focus to free-improvisation sessions, with some solos that take on percussive qualities when he really cuts loose. This album sounds loose but each track has a different mood that keeps things compelling for 56 minutes.”

Darcy James Argue On WNYC’s Soundcheck Today

© 2009 Oliver Heisch/Moers Festival

Today’s episode of the popular music talk show, Soundcheck, will feature a live performance by Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society.

Listeners in the New York area can tune in to WNYC 93.9 FM at 2:00 p.m., while those of us existing outside Metropolis can tune in live online or check in later to hear the segment via streaming audio.

Argue and his acclaimed ensemble headlined opening night of the ongoing New Languages Festival on Thursday and performed two sets at The Jazz Gallery on Friday.

They will next perform as the headliners at SearchandRestore.com’s Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza at The Bell House on October 19th.

Join Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society Tonight And Friday

© 2009 Oliver Heisch/Moers Festival

Composer Darcy James Argue’s innovative big band Secret Society will perform back-to-back gigs in New York starting tonight when it headlines the opening night of the fifth annual New Languages Festival at McCarren Hall in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Tomorrow night the group will perform two sets at Manhattan’s Jazz Gallery, which commissioned two of the tracks heard on its acclaimed debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam).

These dates will kick-off the band’s busy fall performance schedule around New York, which also includes a headlining slot at SearchandRestore.com’s Brooklyn Big Band Bonanza at The Bell House on October 19th and two sets at Iridium Jazz Club on November 25th.