Secret Society

And so today, my world, it smiles

We are down to serious crunch time with the mixing of Infernal Machines -- I crashed on the studio couch Sunday night (er, well, more like Monday around 7 AM, when I finally collapsed from exhaustion), and will likely do so again more than once before we are finished. But I did want to take this time to express my deepest thanks to the people who are making it possible for us to make this record sound as good as we possibly can. You guys rock and we love you. 

I would also like to give an extra-special shout-out to Dave Lisik, Suzi Beyerstein, and Team Sinsheimer for sponsoring a musician. I have been overwhelmed by the incredible show of support and hope that you will all be pleased with the final result when the record is released this May.

Know your Co-Conspirators: Jon Wikan

(Photo: Lindsay Beyerstein)

And now, the thrilling conclusion of our 18-part series, Know Your Co-Conspirators, in which we have been introducing you to the musicians involved in the making of our debut recording, Infernal Machines. Your final co-conspirator is the engine of the band, drummer and percussionist Jon Wikan.

Jon was born in Petersburg, Alaska, but grew up in Seattle, where he attended Central Washington University. He took a year off to tour with the Mills Brothers and Ellington alumnus Herb Jeffries. After college, he immersed himself in the Seattle jazz scene and was taken under the wings of multi-horn man Jay Thomas, Bill Ramsay, and composer James Knapp. During this period he became one of the busiest sidemen in the northwest area backing international artists including Pat Labarbra, Herb Ellis, John Fedchock, Rick Margitza, Buddy Collette, Roswell Rudd, Mark Murphy, Kurt Elling, Bobby Shew, Brad Turner, Jessica Williams and Dan Faehnle.

Since moving to New York, Jon has recorded with pianist Geoff Keezer, toured Japan with Downbeat Vocalist of the Year Mark Murphy, and performed at the Blue Note with the New York Voices. He has performed with the Ingrid Jensen Quartet at the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, the Savannah Jazz Festival, and a live CBC radio concert in Montreal. He's also worked with Karrin Allyson, Sam Yahel, Ron Affif, Seamus Blake, Marcus Strickland, Jay Collins, David Budway, Mark Elf, David Berkman, Jeffery Smith, Antonia Bennett, and Aaron Parks. He is an active clinician/teacher, teaching drums and percussion at The New School and out of his home studio in Queens, NY.

Jon and his family have a place in Ellensburg, Washington, which was one of the communities hard hit by the recent flooding. He spent most of January out west rebuilding and repairing, including laying all-new floors.

Before:

After:

He got back from the reconstruction just in time to play our Feb. 6 Jazz Gallery hit. His hands were all cut up from a month of 18-hour days working on the house, but I made him play the cajon anyway. No mercy.

Jon has been with Secret Society since our inaugural gig and has played almost every show ever since. It's impossible to imagine the band without him.

As part of our fundraising efforts for our Infernal Machines, we are offering you the opportunity to sponsor a Secret Society musician. Click here if you would like to sponsor Jon's appearance on our debut album.

IMPORTANT: The deadline for sponsoring a musician (or becoming our Executive Producer) is February 23, 2009. It's now February 21, which means you have two more days to take advantage of either offer. If you have a flair for the dramatic, now is the time to act.

However, you can continue to make individual donations (and have your name listed on our Thank You Page, if you wish) right up until the album's release in May. This recording is an incredibly ambitious and hugely expensive endeavor. The only reason it is happening at all is because of individual donations from people like you. 

We say this a lot, but we really are extraordinarily grateful to all of our generous supporters. We would not be here without your help. Thank you all so very much.

PREVIOUSLY...

Seneca Black
James Hirschfeld
Tom Goehring
Mark Small
Laurie Frink
Rob Wilkerson
Matt Clohesy
Jennifer Wharton
Mike Holober
Ingrid Jensen
Josh Sinton
Mike Fahie
Sam Sadigurksy
Sebastian Noelle
Nadje Noordhuis
Ryan Keberle
Erica vonKleist

-----

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Invisible touch

The NYT Arts Beat blog can't avoid unburying the lede:

He may not particularly need the money, but the tenor Plácido Domingo has been named the winner of the first Birgit Nilsson Prize, which bestows its recipient with a $1 million award for outstanding achievement in classical music, the Birgit Nilsson Foundation said in a release on Friday.

Domingo was personally selected by the late Ms. Nilsson as the first recipient of this prize (subsequent winners of the most lucrative award in classical music will be "nominated by a jury and selected by the foundation's board") -- well gosh, that certainly dispels any petty concerns anyone may have had about back-channel chumminess trumping "outstanding achievement in classical music."

It's worth asking: what, exactly, is the point of this kind of award, beyond astonishing the proles with its magnitude? Does it do anything to improve the health and vitality of classical music? Or is this better understood as an attempt by the Birgit Nilsson Foundation and its board to make a bit of a splash by handing out double the MacArthur coin?

Of course, the MacArthur Foundation awards 25 fellowships a year, and not all of them to folks for whom a million-dollar windfall is like a light breeze wafting through their bank account. Why, you'd almost think the MacArthur Fellowships are about actually trying to make a difference in the world, not merely the courting of prestige and influence.

Know your Co-Conspirators: Seneca Black

Our profile series featuring the musicians of Infernal Machines is almost complete. The penultimate installment features our indispensable lead trumpet player, Seneca Black.

Seneca grew up in a musical family in Florida. He first picked up the trumpet at age 9, having being inspired by one of his sisters. He graduated from the New World School of the Arts in Miami in 1996, and then moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music. There he enrolled in the jazz program and was there for three semesters before being recruited for the gig you probably know him from -- lead trumpet in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Seneca toured the world several times over with Wynton & co. and recorded often with the group from 1997-2003. He departed to pursue a solo/freelance career in the spring of 2004 and has been a fixture in the New York City music scene since. This also freed him up to play our gigs, which do not pay quite as well as the JALC hits.

Seneca has performed with several well known jazz artists and groups most notably the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, the Oliver Lake Big Band, Carla Bley, Bob Belden, the Mingus Big Band, Chico O'Farrills Afro-Cuban Orchestra, among many others. (Jazz Wars? What Jazz Wars?) He's also backed up a wide variety of vocalists including Bobby Short, Patti LuPone, and Jennifer Holliday. 

Seneca has been an active clinician throughout the world, having gained a lot of exposure through Lincoln Center's Education department. He performs with his own groups around NYC, and performs solo concerts and workshops throughout the world.

Seneca played our first-ever show at a venue that had the word "jazz" in its name, and has been with us ever since. He is really an astoundingly sensitive and selfless musician. Do you know any lead trumpet players? Yes? Then you know that's not generally how they roll. The demands I make of him are, frankly, insane ("Yeah, that long, drawn-out high E you are leaping up to? Can you make it much softer and much darker?" "Hey, listen, be careful with your intonation on that exposed cup mute line that's all up above the staff") but he's never failed to rise to the occasion.

As part of our fundraising efforts for our upcoming recording, Infernal Machines, we are offering you the opportunity to sponsor a Secret Society musician. Click here if you would like to sponsor Seneca's appearance on our debut album.

IMPORTANT: The deadline for sponsoring a musician (or becoming our Executive Producer) has been extended to February 23, 2009. However, you can continue to make individual donations (and have your name listed on our Thank You Page, if you wish) right up until the album's release in May.This recording is a very ambitious and very expensive endeavor, and it is only possible thanks to individual contributions from supporters of independent music such as yourselves. We are grateful beyond words to all of our generous supporters.

PREVIOUSLY...

James Hirschfeld
Tom Goehring
Mark Small
Laurie Frink
Rob Wilkerson
Matt Clohesy
Jennifer Wharton
Mike Holober
Ingrid Jensen
Josh Sinton
Mike Fahie
Sam Sadigurksy
Sebastian Noelle
Nadje Noordhuis
Ryan Keberle
Erica vonKleist

-----

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Know your Co-conspirators: James Hirschfeld

(Photo: Lindsay Beyerstein)

We continue our ongoing profile of the musicians involved in the making of Infernal Machines with a look at trombonist James Hirschfeld.

In addition to playing trombone, James also plays tuba, melodica, percussion, and an "electronic valve instrument" which he built himself. He plays in the Respect Sextet, a group he co-founded as a student at the Eastman School of Music. James has performed and/or recorded with Alarm Will Sound, Tactus, Electric Medicine, Six Types of Ambiguity, and his own groups. James holds a degree in jazz and a Performer’s Certificate in classical performance from Eastman. He needs to update his website.

James's first appearance as a Society co-conspirator was as a last-minute sub on this hit (July 7, 2006). I guess he must have done a decent enough job because I seem to have kept asking him back. James is featured on "Habeas Corpus" and it is actually kind of disturbing how far inside that piece he gets. The solo here can't be at all showy, it is all about personal expression and it necessarily comes from kind of a dark place. Probably the most gratifying thing for any jazz composer is when you write something that requires an improviser to do something outside their comfort zone, but they feel that need as well, and just go there without your having to tell them anything.

As part of our fundraising efforts for our upcoming recording, Infernal Machines, we are offering you the opportunity to sponsor a Secret Society musician. Click here if you would like to sponsor James's appearance on our debut album.

IMPORTANT: The deadline for sponsoring a musician (or becoming our Executive Producer) has been extended to February 23, 2009. However, you can continue to make individual donations (and have your name listed on our Thank You Page, if you wish) right up until the album's release in May.This recording is a very ambitious and very expensive endeavor, and it is only possible thanks to individual contributions from supporters of independent music such as yourselves. We are grateful beyond words to all of our generous supporters.

PREVIOUSLY...

Tom Goehring
Mark Small
Laurie Frink
Rob Wilkerson
Matt Clohesy
Jennifer Wharton
Mike Holober
Ingrid Jensen
Josh Sinton
Mike Fahie
Sam Sadigurksy
Sebastian Noelle
Nadje Noordhuis
Ryan Keberle
Erica vonKleist

-----

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

RIP Louie Bellson

I am far from an expert on Louie Bellson's career but he sounds great on those records with Ellington's band. Also, the before-its-time double kick drum thing? Kind of badass.

Other places...

Marc Myers (JazzWax)

When Louie joined Duke Ellington's band, there was no music to read, nor was there a drum book. Everyone in the band knew the parts by heart. "Duke took a big risk hiring me," Louie recalled. "I was the only white musician in his band. During our first 1951 tour, just before we headed south for Birmingham, Alabama, he said ‘We’re going down South so we’re going to make you a Haitian.’ That’s how they described me so we wouldn’t wind up in trouble."

Peter Hum (Thriving On A Riff)

Nate Chinen (New York Times)

All About Jazz (press release)

Know your Co-conspirators: Tom Goehring

(Photo: Lindsay Beyerstein)

Our ongoing series profiling the musicians involved with the making of Infernal Machines continues! Today's featured co-conspirator is Tom Goehring.

Originally from Mystic, Connecticut, Tom came to NYC back in 1980 to attend Columbia University, where he studied Political Science. But while in college, he was also regular at Barry Harris' classes at the Jazz Cultural Theatre. Tom worked in radio as a board operator and DJ (NPR, WKCR), then as a studio producer for WOR-AM. A a trumpet player, he spent many years freelancing around NYC playing all manner of gigs before deciding to limit his musical activities to those projects he actually enjoys ("Yeah, I have a day job." — Tom G.). 

Tom has performed with big bands led by Jamie Begian, Sherisse Rogers, Andrew Rathbun, J.C. Sanford, and Bill Warfield. He's also performed with Harvie S, Virginia Mayhew, Vic Juris, Gene Perla, and John Hart, among others. He currently lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and it active locally with the Easton Jazz Express. A fluent composer in his own right, he's been an active participant in the BMI Jazz Composers’ Workshop since 1996 and had two of his works nominated for the Charlie Parker Award/Manny Albam Commission. He has studied with Garry Dial and Mike Longo (improvisation, composition), Bob McCoy and Laurie Frink (trumpet), Roger Rosenburg (counterpoint) and master percussionist Glen Velez (tar drum). 

I met Tom during my own days in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. Tom has been a very loyal co-conspirator, having been with us since our very first gig  (CBGB Lounge, May 2005). On gigs, Tom occasionally spells off Seneca Black on lead trumpet, and also plays all my insane 2nd Trumpet parts that are strewn with notes that do not rightly belong in a 2nd Trumpet book (like the long held high E's at the climax of "Transit.") 

Tom also gets (rightfully) upset when people forget to include the "h" in his last name. He would much rather that people believe that he is related to this guy.

As part of our fundraising efforts for our upcoming recording, Infernal Machines, we are offering you the opportunity to sponsor a Secret Society musician. Click here if you would like to sponsor Tom's appearance on our debut album.

IMPORTANT: The deadline for sponsoring a musician (or becoming our Executive Producer) was originally today -- February 15, 2009 -- but has been extended to February 23, 2009. If you would like to take advantage of either of these offers, as of this writing you have seven more days to do so. We would very much like to see one more sponsored musician on this project, so if you can donate at that level, now is the time!

However, you can continue to make individual donations (and have your name listed on our Thank You Page, if you wish) right up until the album's release in May.This recording is a very ambitious and very expensive endeavor, and it is only possible thanks to individual contributions from supporters of independent music such as yourselves. We are grateful beyond words to all of our generous supporters.

PREVIOUSLY...

Mark Small
Laurie Frink
Rob Wilkerson
Matt Clohesy
Jennifer Wharton
Mike Holober
Ingrid Jensen
Josh Sinton
Mike Fahie
Sam Sadigurksy
Sebastian Noelle
Nadje Noordhuis
Ryan Keberle
Erica vonKleist

-----

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

They can put somebody else in his place and restore the state

SearchandRestore.com is now live. They aim to be the OhMyRockness of the contemporary NYC jazz scene, with show picks, full listings, interviews, very helpful venue info, streaming audio, and such like. I know a lot of people who read this blog have been clamoring for a website like this, so you should definitely bookmark it and check it out when you are trying to plan your evening excursions.

They also have a 100% biased writeup of our Feb. 6 Jazz Gallery hit written (with full disclosure) and illustrated by Search And Restore mastermind Adam Schatz. 

Wait, "illustrated"? Yes:

RIP Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett

Saxophonist Gerry Niewood was among those who perished aboard Continental Flight 3407 on Thursday night. I had the good fortune to have Gerry perform my music in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop and in a few Secret Society rehearsals he was gracious enough to sub in. Others -- like Society saxophonist Sam Sadigursky, who has posted an excellent tribute on his own blog -- knew him far better, but in our brief interactions he seemed a selfless, stand-up guy, in addition to being true to his rep as a consummate pro. Deepest condolences to his son Adam (also a saxophonist) and the rest of his family and loved ones.

34-year old guitarist Coleman Mellett was also aboard that flight -- he and Gerry were both heading to a scheduled performance with Chuck Mangione and the Buffalo Philharmonic. Again, my sincerest condolences to those who knew him.

Other places...

Gerry Niewood on MySpace
Coleman Mellett on Myspace
-----
Sam Sadigursky (The One Seat)

I went to college with Niewood's son Adam and got to know Gerry a little while in school, and even took a lesson with him after finishing college. A few years later, I found myself sitting next to him when subbing in the orchestra for the Radio City Christmas Show. Over a period of three years, I played about seventy shows sitting next to him, and he was always a great source of warmth, encouragement, sound, professionalism, humor, and a real woodwind guru. He seemed to do things his own way, which isn't something I've encountered much playing on Broadway. I always felt that I emerged a better player after sitting next to him, and he always had something nice to say to me after the show, which meant a great deal to me being so new there.

Jason Crane (The Jazz Session) - includes audio interview with Adam Niewood.
Doug Ramsey (Rifftides)
Monk Rowe (Jazz Backstory)
Ron Netsky (Rochester City Newspaper)
Annette Batson (Baristanet) - reaction from Gerry's community in Glen Ridge, NJ.
JazzCorner thread

Sexy Results

I was encouraged at the outcry from the arts community over the Coburn Amendment, but I honestly did not expect this:

House and Senate negotiators on the bill dropped the language prohibiting stimulus funds from going to museums, theatres, and arts centers which was included in the version of the bill passed by the Senate. 

Woot! Put one on the board for our team. Well played, people.

Via NYSarts.org.

Audio update

Thanks to the good folks at the Jazz Gallery, I was able to obtain the audio from last Friday's second set. I've added the links here -- these tracks have some killing solos from Josh, Erica, Rob, Mike, and newly inaugurated co-conspirator Matt Holman, so I am very glad to be able to bring them to you.

That keeps me thrown askew

So Pulse is putting on a show at Barbès this Friday at 8 PM. Our current project is called Songs from the Hudson River and it's a collaboration with singer/songwriter Joy Askew. Joy has performed and recorded with a remarkable array of musicians (Laurie Anderson, Joe Jackson, Peter Gabriel... ) and is awesome. And now we have written a song together.

This, ah, isn't exactly my comfort zone as a composer. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I have no fucking idea what I'm doing here. But I think it kind of turned out all right anyway (for which I assign 100% of the credit to Joy).

The song is called "Ghosts of the Hudson" and if you come to Barbès on Friday you can hear it, along with all the other songs Joy and my Pulse compatriots have created for this show.

RIP Blossom Dearie [updated]

One of my all-time favorite singers is gone . She died peaceably, in her sleep, in her Greenwich Village apartment, at the age of 82. Somehow that seems apt.

When I first heard Blossom sing "Surrey With The Fringe On Top," I didn't get what anyone saw in it. Now hers is pretty much the only version of that song I can tolerate. And of course, her sly gender-tweaked reading of Dave Frishberg & Bob Dorough's "I'm Hip" is timeless. ("I don't blow but I'm a fan" -- that's a line that would raise a lot of eyebrows if she wasn't so damn good at deadpan.) 

I think her best record is probably her 1957 self-titled debut for Verve, with Ray Brown, Jo Jones, Herb Ellis, and Blossom's own (very credible) piano playing. I will always be in awe of "Blossom's Blues," in which a mousy, bespectacled child-voiced little white girl confidently inverts all manner of manly blues clichés. ("But Ray Brown told me I was built for speed" indeed.)  And she owns Lorenz Hart's wry, cynical lyrics to "Ev'rything I've Got." When Ella sings this song, she gives away the game, making it very clear she doesn't mean any of it -- she's just kidding around. Blossom's version is the opposite, a sweet and bubbly surface that doesn't quite conceal actual murderous intent. The themes of Mad Men could easily be encapsulated by this one song.

MP3: Blossom Dearie, "Ev'rything I've Got"

Other places:

Terry Teachout (About Last Night)
Doug Ramsey (Rifftides) -- and, via Doug, Blossom's friend and colleague Dave Frishberg, who shares a revealing detail about Blossom's influence on Bill Evans.
Keith Phipps (The Onion A.V. Club)
Maura Johnston (Idolator)
Marc Myers (JazzWax) - he may be an avowed non-fan, but Marc's post has a ton of great biographical detail not found in the big media obits
Anne (Fernham)
Oliver Wang (Soul Sides)
Mustang Bobby (Shakesville)
Stephen Holden (NYT)
Jon Thurber (LA Times)
Rosie Bell links to something I hadn't heard before -- the Bob Dorough-Blossom Dearie version of "Baby It's Cold Outside," surely the creepiest version of that seasonal chestnut ever recorded.

Finally, singer Amy Cervini sent me links to two YouTube videos from a Blossom Dearie tribute gig she did at the Blue Note in December. The (killing) band includes Avishai Cohen, Frank Kimbrough, Dan Loomis, and Matt Wilson. Check out Amy's versions of "A Doodlin' Song" and "Blossom's Blues."

And all their eyes look shady

So with all the recording-related program activities, I did not quite get around to posting the audio from our December Jazz Gallery hit before we played there again this weekend as part of the Search And Restore website launch -- check it out, it's alive. 

So, then. I'm-a just dump all this audio on the internets all at once like it's some kind of big truck. (Shut your mouth -- Ted Stevens references are timeless.) Here are the recordings from Dec. 12-13 and Feb. 6. There are a couple of caveats: 

One, the recording of the second set on Feb. 6 did not turn out, and I am beginning to get seriously pissed at my super-flaky digital recorder. Or perhaps my mic is dying. Anyway, hopefully the Jazz Gallery recorded the show -- if so, I'll have that audio for you later.

Two, I am keeping the Jazz Gallery-commissioned tunes ("Obsidian Flow" and "Jacobin Club") under wraps for the moment. If you weren't at the gigs, y'all will have to wait for the record to come out to hear those two cuts. Not being a dick, I just want to save a few surprises for the album itself. 

Also, a huge appreciation for trumpeter Matt Holman, last-minute sub for an ailing Nadje Noordhuis, he did an awesome job of sight-reading the book. I am hoping that recording of the second Feb. 6 set comes through eventually so you can hear his amazing solo on "Induction Effect."

Anyway, here are the tracks:

JAZZ GALLERY

12 DECEMBER 2008

SETLIST - SET 1

(click to listen; right-click/control-click to download)

1) MP3: Transit

Solo: Ingrid Jensen, trumpet

2) Jacobin Club

Solo: Sam Sadigursky, tenor sax & Mike Fahie, trombone

3) MP3: Zeno

Solo: Ryan Keberle, trombone

4) Obsidian Flow

Solo: Erica vonKleist, alto saxophone

5) MP3: Habeas Corpus

Solo: James Hirschfeld, trombone

---

SETLIST - SET 2

1) MP3: Flux in a Box

Solo: Rob Wilkerson, alto sax

2) MP3: Redeye

Solo: Sebastian Noelle, guitar

3) Obsidian Flow

Solo: Erica vonKleist, alto saxophone

4) Jacobin Club

Solo: Sam Sadigursky, tenor sax & Mike Fahie, trombone

5) MP3: Phobos

Solos: Jon Wikan, cajon; Mark Small, tenor saxophone

* * *

JAZZ GALLERY

13 DECEMBER 2008

SETLIST - SET 1

1) MP3: Flux in a Box

Solo: Rob Wilkerson, alto sax

2) MP3: Redeye

Solo: Sebastian Noelle, guitar

3) Obsidian Flow

Solo: Erica vonKleist, alto saxophone

4) Jacobin Club

Solo: Sam Sadigursky, tenor sax & Mike Fahie, trombone

5) MP3: Phobos

Solos: Jon Wikan, cajon; Mark Small, tenor saxophone

---

SETLIST - SET 2

1) MP3: Transit

Solo: Ingrid Jensen, trumpet

2) Jacobin Club

Solo: Sam Sadigursky, tenor sax & Mike Fahie, trombone

3) MP3: Zeno

Solo: Ryan Keberle, trombone

4) Obsidian Flow

Solo: Erica vonKleist, alto saxophone

5) MP3: Habeas Corpus

Solo: James Hirschfeld, trombone

* * *

JAZZ GALLERY

06 FEBRUARY 2009

SETLIST - SET 1

1) MP3: Phobos

Solos: Jon Wikan, cajon; John Ellis, tenor sax

2) MP3: Zeno

Solo: Alex Heitlinger, trombone

3) MP3: Transit

Solo: Ingrid Jensen, fluegelhorn

4) MP3: Drift

Solo: John Ellis, tenor sax

5) Obsidian Flow

Solo: Erica vonKleist, alto saxophone

---

SETLIST - SET 2

1) MP3: Induction Effect

Solo: Matt Holman, trumpet

2) MP3: Flux in a Box

Solo: Rob Wilkerson, alto sax

3) MP3: Chrysalis

Solo: Erica vonKleist, alto flute & soprano sax

4) Jacobin Club

Solo: Sam Sadigursky, tenor sax & Mike Fahie, trombone

5) MP3: Lizard Brain

Solo: Josh Sinton, baritone sax

----

Finally, if you enjoy listening please donate. That way we can keep bringing you more music.

She likes the art museum, she don't like Pavlov's dog

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill was among those voting for the previously mentioned amendment barring any stimulus money going to museums, theaters, arts centers and the like.

Senator McCaskill also has a Twitter feed. Here's her tweet from 10:29 AM yesterday:

Going to Museum of Am History today.Haven't been since it re-opened.Want to check it out.Also grocery store and later a movie date with Joe.

Just shoot me now. 

(Via Atrios.)

Fuck art let's demagogue

So perhaps you heard that on Friday, the Senate passed an amendment to the stimulus bill, sponsored by the loathsome Tom Coburn, that bars any stimulus money from going to "any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project." In other words, it might as well have been called the "'How To Make Sure None Of The Stimulus Money Will Go To Enriching Or Bettering People's Lives' Amendment." But the tax cuts -- which have a negligible stimulus effect -- those are staying. 

The amendment passed overwhelmingly (73-24), and even NY Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has a reputation as an arts advocate and -- perhaps someone should remind him of this -- whose state includes New York Fuckin' City, where the arts are rumored to be somewhat important to the local economy, voted in favor of the amendment. (To her credit, the newly-minted, nominally right-leaning Sen. Kristen Gillibrand was one of the few to vote against it.)

I am furious, but fortunately Isaac says everything I wanted to say. Also, go to the Americans for the Arts Action Center and write your senators. It takes two minutes of your time and makes an enormous difference.

And hey, remember last week when people were all worried that America might indulge in too much arts funding (cue fear-mongering about "censorship"), or that Obama might appoint an Arts Czar and that would be... bad, somehow? Good times.

See also Ian Moss -- here and here.

TONIGHT - Secret Society @ Jazz Gallery

Darcy James Argue's

SECRET SOCIETY

at the

JAZZ GALLERY

Friday 06 February, 2009

9:00 PM & 10:30 PM

Part of the Search and Restore Series

 

Adam Schatz has been doing great things recently with his Search and Restore Series, which has consistently featured some of the most exciting forward-thinking jazz artists in town. Their final blowout show at the Knitting Facotry on Dec. 2 featured Dan Weiss+Miles Okazaki, Pete Robbins's sILENT Z, Steve Bernstein's Millenial Territory Orchestra, James Carney, Todd Sickafoose's Blood Orange, and the Hasslebring/D'Angelo Big Band, all on the same bill. Since the Knit's recent relocation, Search and Restore is expanding to new venues, including the Jazz Gallery, where they will be presenting yrs trly & co. on Feb. 6 and Jason Lindner's NOW vs. NOW on Feb. 7. Please join us for our first post-recording gig -- we will be reviving the new works we premiered in December (in case you missed them) and also reaching back into the Society archives for some older material we have been neglecting of late.

WINDS

Erica vonKleist

Rob Wilkerson

Sam Sadigursky

John Ellis

Josh Sinton

TRUMPETS & FLÜGELHORNS

John Chudoba

Ingrid Jensen

Laurie Frink

Nadje Noordhuis

Tom Goehring

TROMBONES

Alex Heitlinger

Mike Fahie

James Hirschfeld

Jennifer Wharton

RHYTHM

Sebastian Noelle, guitar

Mike Holober, piano

Ike Sturm, bass

Jon Wikan, drums & percussion

Know your Co-conspirators: Mark Small

(Photo: Lindsay Beyerstein)

Our ongoing series profiling the musicians involved with the making of Infernal Machines continues with a focus on Mark Small, today's featured co-conspirator.

Like Josh, Jennifer, and myself, Mark studied at Boston's New England Conservatory (home to sax gurus Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone) before moving to NYC in the early 2000s. He co-leads the band Bronze, in which he shares the front line with another young tenor demon, Walter Smith III. Mark has performed throughout the Northeast supporting artists such as Maynard Ferguson, Nat Adderley, Maceo Parker and others, and has appeared at numerous festivals including the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Jackie Robinson Jazz Festival, and the Berklee composers series (with Jim McNeely). Mark was a semifinalist in the 2002 Thelonious Monk saxophone competition. He has performed with Dick Oatts, John Mosca, Cladio Roditi, Joe LaBarbara, Ed Soph, Kenny Wheeler, Tiger Okoshi, Benny Golson, Chico O’Farrell, Harold Danko, and Bruce Barth, and -- in between Society gigs -- has spent the last two years touring the world with Warner Brothers recording artist Michael Bublé... and if you get a few beers in him he will regale you with some excellent road stories.

Mark's first hit with Secret Society was our appearance as the house band at the 2006 3 Quarks Daily ball at Flux Factory, which was a seriously fun gig, as we got to perform for a hip and artsy crowd of people in a partying mood who had mostly never heard of us. Mark's big feature is "Phobos," wherein his voice represents either the doomed moon of Mars or a bloody sacrifice to the Greek God of Fear. It depends on the night.

As part of our fundraising efforts for our upcoming recording, Infernal Machines, we are offering you the opportunity to sponsor a Secret Society musician. Click here if you would like to sponsor Mark's appearance on our debut album.

IMPORTANT: The deadline for sponsoring a musician (or becoming our Executive Producer) is February 15, 2009. However, you can continue to make individual donations (and have your name listed on our Thank You Page, if you wish) right up until the album is released in May. It is individual contributions from supporters of independent music that are making this recording possible, and we are grateful beyond words to all of our generous supporters.

PREVIOUSLY...

Laurie Frink
Rob Wilkerson
Matt Clohesy
Jennifer Wharton
Mike Holober
Ingrid Jensen
Josh Sinton
Mike Fahie
Sam Sadigurksy
Sebastian Noelle
Nadje Noordhuis
Ryan Keberle
Erica vonKleist

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Darcy James Argue's Secret Society is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

RIP Hank Crawford and Lukas Foss

I was saddened to learn that David "Fathead" Newman's old foil, Hank Crawford, has also died, just a few days after Newman's passing. Bruce Weber has the NYT Obit, and here's Doug Ramsey (Rifftides). 

See also Dave Douglas (Greenleaf), who links Hank Crawford with another departed American original, Lukas Foss. And for a movingly detailed reminiscence of that iconoclastic composer, you must read Matthew Guerrieri's tribute to his former teacher.