Ottawa Jazz Festival
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society has been credited with “making the big band cool again” (Time Out New York) and “reinventing the jazz big band for the 21st century” (The Guardian). Founded in 2005, the group first gained international recognition with their widely acclaimed 2009 debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records), which appeared on over 100 best-of-the-year lists, earned a GRAMMY nomination, and quickly made the 18-piece group one of the most talked about ensembles in jazz. Their sophomore release, Brooklyn Babylon, also received a GRAMMY nomination and was named Best Album of 2013 by The New Republic. They earned a third consecutive GRAMMY nomination for Real Enemies, named one of the top albums of 2016 by The Nation, Slate, The Boston Globe, and The Chicago Reader and praised as “a mind-blowing example of truly great, era-defining jazz composition” by John L. Walters in London Jazz News. In addition to their three recordings, Secret Society has been busy on the road with Brazilian, European, and Canadian tours and global festival performances. Secret Society have been celebrated for their “slashing fury and awesome full-ensemble precision” (The New York City Jazz Record). Their London Jazz Festival debut was declared “a contender for gig of the year” by The Guardian, and their performance at the Moers Festival in Germany was hailed by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger as “one of the highlights of the 38th annual festival.”