Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society
“The range of different colors and textures Argue gets from the ensemble is astonishing.” – Jazz Wise
Darcy James Argue is a composer, bandleader, and producer best known for his 18-piece ensemble, Secret Society. The ensemble has received critical acclaim for their fusion of primitive jazz with more contemporary sonics. Secret Society released their first album, Infernal Machines, in 2009. The album received high praise, including a Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. Their subsequent albums, Brooklyn Babylon (2013) and Real Enemies (2016), both received Grammy nominations. In addition to his work with Secret Society, Argue has received commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation, the Jazz Gallery, the Manhattan New Music Project, the Jerome Foundation, and Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as ensembles including the Danish Radio Big Band, the Hard Rubber Orchestra, the Jazz Knights, and the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos. As a producer, he received a Latin Grammy award for Best Jazz Album for his work on Emilio Solla’s Puertos: Music from International Waters. He has also produced critically acclaimed large-ensemble recordings by Jihye Lee, Brian Krock, Mike Fahie, Jeff Fairbanks, and Sherisse Rogers. The long-awaited fourth Secret Society album, Dynamic Maximum Tension, will be released in 2023.
