Darcy James Argue is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

composer and bandleader known for his work with his 18-piece ensemble, Secret Society.

Biography

Argue was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, British Columbia. He studied at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

in Montreal from 1993–1998, and in 2000 he moved to the U.S. to study composition at

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

with jazz composer

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of G ...

. Following his studies at New England Conservatory, Argue moved to Brooklyn in 2003.

Secret Society

In 2005, Argue founded Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, an 18-piece

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

. In 2009, they released their first studio album, ''

Infernal Machines Infernal Machines is the debut studio album by Darcy James Argue's big band Secret Society. The album was released May 12, 2009 by New Amsterdam Records and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Reception The album was praised for its "impressioni ...

'', on

New Amsterdam Records New Amsterdam Records is a record label in New York City that was formed in 2008 by Judd Greenstein, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and William Brittelle to promote classically trained musicians who fall between traditional genre boundaries. Often abbr ...

, an independent record label in New York City. It received a Grammy Award nomination for

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works ...

and a Juno Award nomination in Canada for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year. It was recognized multiple times in the ''Down Beat'' magazine Critics' Poll and included on annual lists at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', '' Paste'', and the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...

''. The Society's second album, ''Brooklyn Babylon'' (2013), was based on a multimedia performance created with visual artist Danijel Zezelj and premiered at the BAM Next Wave Festival in November 2011. It too received Grammy and Juno Award nominations. It won the top positions for Arranger and Big Band in the 2013 ''Down Beat'' Critics' Poll, was named Best Album of 2013 by ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'', and was included in the Top 10 Albums of the 2013 NPR Music Jazz Critics' Poll. Their third album, ''

Real Enemies ''Real Enemies'' is an album by Darcy James Argue's Secret Society. It earned Argue and the Secret Society a Grammy Award nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Track listing Personnel * Darcy James Argue – producer, liner notes * ...

'' (New Amsterdam, 2016) received a Grammy nomination for

Commissions

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 The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

, as well as ensembles including the

Danish Radio Big Band The Danish Radio Big Band (aka: DR Big Band), often referred to as the Radioens Big Band is a radio ensemble and big band founded in Copenhagen in 1964 at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Band history Originally called the New Radio ...

, the

Hard Rubber Orchestra The Hard Rubber Orchestra is a jazz band led by composer and trumpeter John Korsrud in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1990, it has a shifting membership of 15-30 musicians. It is known for spotlighting work by contemporary compose ...

the Jazz Knights The Jazz Knights was the jazz ensemble of the United States Military Academy Band stationed at West Point, New York; it was one of the premiere jazz ensembles of the United States Army Special Bands. Originally created in 1972, they carried the ...

, and the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos. He is the recipient of grants and fellowships from

New Music USA New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media program ...

, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

, and the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

Awards and honors

* Charlie Parker Composition Prize, BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop (2004) * Grammy Award nominations,

: ''

'' (2011), ''Brooklyn Babylon'' (2014), ''

'' (2016) * Juno Award nomination, Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year (2010, 2014) * Music Fellowship,

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

(2013) *

Doris Duke Performing Artist Award The Doris Duke Artist Award is undertaken by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and designed to "empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering multi-year, unrestricted funding as a response to financial and funding challenges both unique to ...

(2015) *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

in Music Composition (2015)

Discography

* ''

'' (

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

, 2009) * ''Brooklyn Babylon'' (New Amsterdam, 2013) * ''

'' (New Amsterdam, 2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Argue, Darcy James 1975 births Living people Musicians from Vancouver Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Canadian jazz bandleaders Canadian jazz composers Male jazz composers Steampunk music New England Conservatory alumni McGill University School of Music alumni