Some exciting news regarding the Secret Society North Winter 2008 tour.
While at IAJE, in addition to our own showcase, we will also have the great honor of premiering the 2008 ASCAP/IAJE commissioned works by Established Composer Tim Hagans and Emerging Composer Ayn Inserto. And on top of that, Tim will be joining us on Friday Jan. 11th at Tranzac -- he is someone who actually came up through the big bands, old-school (Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, the Danish Radio Big Band under Thad Jones), and that's a depth of knowledge he brings to his current gig as artistic director of the Norrbotten Big Band. It's an incredible honor and privilege for us to perform Tim's music, and to have Tim perform my stuff as well. Ayn is someone I have known since grad school -- like me, she is a Brookmeyer protegé, and if you don't know her stuff, you should. Ayn's piece will also feature another special guest -- George Garzone on tenor sax. I'm not sayin' anything, I'm just sayin'. The commissioned works will be premiered on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 2 PM at IAJE, and we will reprise Tim's piece at Tranzac on Jan. 11.
A few words about the opening bands -- in Montreal, on Jan. 8, we will kick things off at La Sala Rossa with a set by Joel Miller's Mandala. The group emerged from an series of compositional workshops organized in 2003 by Miller with fellow musicians Thom Gossage (drums), Bruno Lamarche (reeds), Fraser Hollins (bass), Bill Mahar (trumpet) and Kenny Bibace (guitar). The band has received praise from audiences and critics across Canada, the United States and France, including an Opus Award for Concert of the Year. Joel is one of my favorite small-group composers, period, and his music was a tremendous inspiration to me when I was going to school in Montreal.
In Toronto, on Jan. 11 at Tranzac, Chet Doxas is the man to get this party started. His trio just happens to include the stalwart Secret Society rhythm section -- he and Matt Clohesy and Jon Wikan played together constantly during Chet's stint in New York City, so this gig will be a reunion for them as well. Reviewing Doxas's Justin Time debut, Sidewalk Ettiquette, for Down Beat magazine, Greg Buium writes: "Still in his mid 20s, Chet Doxas seems to have leaped straight into that line of Canada's most estimable tenor saxophonists." Chet also played in my quintet for my last ever-Montreal gig in August of 2000. (Well, last-ever until now.)
However amidst all of this excitment, I'm afraid I've had some rather crushing news on the financial front, as most of the grants I'd been counting on to help finance this trip have failed to materialize. Now, more than ever, I am depending on your support to help me make sure that all of these fine musicians can get where they need to be, and have a roof over their heads when they get there. (Trust me, you don't want them sleeping outdoors in January in Montreal and Toronto.)
If you have enjoyed any of the music I've posted or any of the blogging I've been doing here, please consider making a contribution to our tour fund:
Thanks to the good people at Fractured Atlas, anything you contribute is tax-deductible. Any amount is deeply appreciated. We are doing this tour straight-up couch-surfing car-pooling econo-style, but cheap ain't the same as free -- especially not for an ensemble this size. If you can help me see to it that the band is taken care of, you will have my eternal gratitude. We will naturally also give you a massive shout-out in our IAJE program -- assuming you do not prefer to remain anonymous, retaining that precious air of mystery. We're down with that too.
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MANDATORY DISCLAIMER GOES HERE: Darcy James Argue's Secret Society North's Winter '08 Tour is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society North may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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