Here’s Giovanni Russonello in the NY Times, 12.31.2018: “Quietly, beneath the radar of even most jazz lovers, the big band has been charging back. For a long time, the large ensemble has seemed a clunky ves­tige of American music’s past — outmoded since bebop supplanted swing in the 1950s — but a bumper crop of enterprising, conservatory–trained composers sees it differently: as a vessel of grandiose possibil­ity.” The 2016 album Real Enemies by Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society was nominated for both a GRAMMY Award nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and for Jazz Album of the Year (Group) in Canada’s JUNO Awards. Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, writes Giovanni Russonello, “is now renowned in the jazz world. At 43, he has become a mentor to many of today’s young big–band composers…‘It seems like no matter what, the possibilities of writing for big band are so musically irre­sistible that people keep finding a way to make it work,’ Mr. Argue said. ‘Which is really inspiring.’" Darcy James Argue – composer, conductor Dave Pietro, Rob Wilkerson, Sam Sadigursky, John Ellis, Carl Maraghi (4/23 only), Brian Landrus (4/24 only) – woodwinds Seneca Black, Matt Holman, Nadje Noordhuis, Nathan Eklund, David Smith – trumpets Mike Fahie, Natalie Cressman, Kalia Vandever, Jennifer Wharton – trombones Sebastian Noelle – guitar Adam Birnbaum – piano Matt Clohesy – bass Jon Wikan – drums