Secret Society

Either/Or (No More)

I was invited to contribute a piece to the Megaphone column for this month's All About Jazz-New York. I wouldn't say I'm exactly courting controversy, but let's say I might have shot controversy a few sly glances across a crowded room. 

You can read it over at AAJ if you like, though I have also reproduced it here, below the fold, with (hopefully) illustrative audio clips. Comments welcome, as always.

Unless you just address with best finesse

Secret Society is moving.

Our new URL is:

http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

We kindly request that you update your bookmarks and links.

The new RSS feed is:

http://www.secretsocietymusic.org/darcy_james_argues_secret/rss.xml

No redesign, just a long-overdue URL change. The previous address was owned by our blog hosting software, but secretsocietymusic.org is our own domain, and will remain stable regardless of whatever might happen behind the scenes.

We also have a new email address: [email protected]. If you are a subscriber to the Secret Society News-Letter, you might want to add that to your Address Book. 

Speaking of which, the latest edition of the News-Letter is now out -- you can read it here, or get it delivered to your inbox.

Industry Standard

Our next NYC hit is Tuesday, March 23 at Jazz Standard, as part of the New York-based celebrations surrounding the 40th anniversary of my alma mater's jazz program. It is great to be a part of this -- many of my most important musical/personal relationships began at NEC. In fact, that is where I first met and started working with Secret Society co-conspirators Josh Sinton and Sebastian Noelle. This will also be our first gig at Jazz Standard. It's a pretty sweet room for bigbands -- I have vivid memories of mind-blowing shows there by Maria Schneider's Orchestra and John Hollenbeck's Large Ensemble -- and we are definitely looking forward to our own debut on that stage.

Of course, before this whole NEC-in-NYC shebang rolls in, the band is heading up to Boston for a gig at the Regattabar on February 25. Tickets are currently on sale for the 7:30 PM set -- if, ahem, "demand warrants," the club will add a second show at 10 PM, so the Society encourages our Boston-area partisans to buy early and, ideally, often.

Both the Regattabar and Jazz Standard performances will feature the return of some of our favorite guest co-conspirators, saxophonists John Ellis and Marc Phaneuf. Also joining the lineup for our Home game on March 23 is the unstoppable Ben Kono.