Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
Dynamic Maximum Tension
Album · Jazz · 2023
One of the most gratifying success stories in 21st-century jazz has been the rise of composer, conductor and producer Darcy James Argue and his “steampunk big band”, Secret Society. A gaggle of top emerging talent that used to play for beer money, as Argue once said from the stage, held together through several ambitious album projects, culminating in a deal with Nonesuch. Dynamic Maximum Tension, the result, is a double album to get lost in over many repeated listens. The repertoire was in the works at gigs and festivals for years, so the level of refinement on this long-awaited document is something spectacular.
It's fitting that an heir to the big-band idiom would be focused on artistic giants who came before. Duke Ellington is the inspiration for “Tensile Curves”, a mega-suite extrapolated from a pair of innovative Duke pieces from 1937: “Diminuendo in Blue” and “Crescendo in Blue”. “Wingèd Beasts” is a tribute to the late master composer, teacher and valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. “All In” was composed in loving memory of Secret Society’s founding lead trumpeter, Laurie Frink.
The heroes are extra-musical as well: Argue’s album title refers to the “dymaxion” concept of futurist R. Buckminster Fuller, while “Codebreaker” was written with computer science innovator and intelligence analyst Alan Turing in mind. “Mae West: Advice”, brilliantly sung by the great Cécile McLorin Salvant, is a paean to the multi-talented star of the ’30s and ’40s, with lyrics from a sonnet by poet Paisley Rekdal. Other delights abound in this sprawling program, with riveting solos from trumpeters Ingrid Jensen and Nadje Noordhuis, trombonist Ryan Keberle, clarinetist Sam Sadigursky, baritone saxophonist Carl Maraghi and many more.