My co-conspirators and I make our return to Le Poisson Rouge for a show on May 22 -- downbeat is 10:30 PM. Tickets may be had here.
It's a bit of a birthday gig for both me and the band: my personal odometer turns over another year at midnight that night, and May 22 is just a few days shy of the 7th anniversary of the first-ever Secret Society show. (May 29, 2005 at CBGB, for the record.) My official reaction to this is: "Holy crap have I really been at this for seven motherfucking years?" Once you start indulging your bigband habit, it's all a blur...
Seriously, though, this seems an approriate time for me to thank all of you for all of your support -- most especially those of you who have been coming to see us since those early shows at CB's and the Bowery Poetry Club. We did not get where we are because of a big record label push or a glitzy PR campaign or by riding on the coattails of famous people. Whatever success we've had, we've had because you guys started coming to our shows and telling your friends about the band. And now, thanks to you, Secret Society gets to play all over the world, and I get to make writing and performing music the focus of my life. That's pretty rad.
Here are a few of the things we have coming up after that May 22 LPR show:
- In early June, we are going to Brazil. Secret Society is playing the BMW Jazz Festival -- we'll be in São Paolo on June 10 and Rio de Janeiro on June 13. Brazil! I can scarsely wait. Such a staggering variety of inventive, grooving, deeply soulful sounds originating from there...
- The day after we get back from Brazil, I'm heading up to West Point where I will be the composer-in-residence for the 2012 Jazz Knights Composer's Forum. I'll be giving masterclasses, working with selected composer participants, and premiering a newly comissioned work: "Codebreaker," my tribute to Alan Turing, written to commemorate his 100th birthday.
- Immediately after the Composer's Forum wraps, I'll be taking Secret Society into the studio to record the music from Brooklyn Babylon. A lot of you have been asking me "When is the next record coming out?" and now I finally have an answer for you: it's coming out in the spring of 2013.
- On August 4, Secret Society returns to the Newport Jazz Festival. Have you seen this year's lineup? You really should. Also, if you act quickly, you can get a discounted one-day or two-day pass --- use the promo code "BIGBAND".
- There is something else cool really happening later in August that I can't tell you about yet, but stay tuned.
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