DARCY JAMES ARGUE (composer, arranger) Vancouver native and Brooklyn-based composer-bandleader Darcy James Argue is active in New York with his 18-piece ensemble Secret Society since 200g. His widely acclaimed 2009 debut, Infernal Machines, which earned him GRAMMY and JUNO nominations, quickly caught the attention of listeners and musicians alike.

In addition to appearances at venues ranging from jazz and rock clubs to such prestigious theaters as the Bimhuis, Merkin Hall, and the Kennedy Center, the group has also performed at the Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver Jazz Festivals, the Ecstatic Music Festival, the London Jazz Festival, the Moers Festival, New York’s Winter Jazzfest, the Newport Jazz Festival, and Brazil's BMW Jazz Festival. Argue premiered his latest project, Brooklyn Babylon, an innovative multimedia collaboration with graphic artist Danijel Zezelj, over the course of four nights at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival in 2011.

Argue’s awards include the BMI Jazz Composers’ Workshop Charlie Parker Composition Prize and SOCAN’s Hagood Hardy Award. He has received commissions from the Danish Radio Big Band, the Hard Rubber Orchestra, the West Point Jazz Knights, the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos, the Jazz Gallery, the Manhattan New Music Project, and the Jerome Foundation, as well as grants and fellowships from New Music USA, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the MacDowell Colony.

Argue's recording Brooklyn Babylon was released in 2013 and was nominated for Grammy and JUNO awards.

Awards:

2010 - JUNO nomination for 'Contemporary Jazz Album' for Informal Machines
2011 - Grammy nomination for 'Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album' for Informal Machines
2013 - Grammy nomination for 'Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album' for Brooklyn Babylon
2014 - JUNO nomination for 'Contemporary Jazz Album' for Brooklyn Babylon