Jazz at the Atlas: Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
04/04/2012 20:00, Atlas Performing Arts Center
Darcy James Argue is one of today’s most talked-about jazz musicians thanks to his Grammy-nominated debut record, Infernal Machines, which features his 18-piece big band, Secret Society.
Formed in 2005, Secret Society evokes an alternate musical history in which the dance orchestras that ruled the Swing Era never went extinct, but remained a popular and vital part of the evolving musical landscape. Adopting a steampunk-inspired attitude towards the traditional big band, Argue refashions this well-worn instrumentation into a cutting-edge ensemble.
The band’s first studio recording, Infernal Machines is described by Newsweek’s Seth Colter Walls as “a wholly original take on big band’s past, present and future” and Time Out New York’s David R. Adler awarded it five stars, proclaiming it “a seven-track marvel of imagination.”
Argue has topped the Rising Star: Composer category in the DownBeat Critics Poll for the past two years, and has won Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards for Large Ensemble of the Year and Up & Coming Artist of the Year. The group has played high-profile concerts in New York and other North American cities, as well as in Europe.
04/04/2012 20:00, Atlas Performing Arts Center
Darcy James Argue is one of today’s most talked-about jazz musicians thanks to his Grammy-nominated debut record, Infernal Machines, which features his 18-piece big band, Secret Society.
Formed in 2005, Secret Society evokes an alternate musical history in which the dance orchestras that ruled the Swing Era never went extinct, but remained a popular and vital part of the evolving musical landscape. Adopting a steampunk-inspired attitude towards the traditional big band, Argue refashions this well-worn instrumentation into a cutting-edge ensemble.
The band’s first studio recording, Infernal Machines is described by Newsweek’s Seth Colter Walls as “a wholly original take on big band’s past, present and future” and Time Out New York’s David R. Adler awarded it five stars, proclaiming it “a seven-track marvel of imagination.”
Argue has topped the Rising Star: Composer category in the DownBeat Critics Poll for the past two years, and has won Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards for Large Ensemble of the Year and Up & Coming Artist of the Year. The group has played high-profile concerts in New York and other North American cities, as well as in Europe.