Ides of March

I'll go with the Ph. D. in astrophysics over the dude who may have been a plagiarist. Okay, he probably wrote those plays, but still...

• Last week at All About Jazz Frederick Bernas interviewed Christian Scott. Also interviewed at AAJ recently: Luis Bonilla and Robin DG Kelley.
• Peter Hum discovered a surprising entry in the Urban Dictionary earlier this month. He also pointed out some video from a Dave Holland master class.
• New Yorker classical critic and author of The Rest Is Noise Alex Ross has written a new book, Listen to This. Here's the table of contents. The book drops in September.
• Ethan Iverson on Wayne Shorter. If Do the Math is not on your RSS reader already, now you have no excuse.
• At Destination: Out this month: Max Roach + Archie Shepp = solid gold. 
• Darcy James Argue is giving an in-depth analysis of some of his compositions on his blog. First up: Zeno, Parts 1 and 2, with more to come. I love it when artists nerd out on their blogs and Twitter feeds. Thanks Darcy.

Here is a live recording of the Secret Society playing Zeno at Le Poisson Rouge back in 2008:

Review: Infernal Machines

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

Infernal Machines

I'm a bit late to Darcy James Argue's party, so I'll be brief. Argue, a heretofore relatively obscure composer and bandleader in New York, just released his debut album, a big band project which evokes both the lofty atmospherics of the Maria Schneider Orchestra and the sounds of modern indie rock. Argue recently wrote of his music:

What if the big band had remained the standard vehicle for popular music? What if every time you turned on the radio, everyone from T-Pain to Rihanna to Katy Perry was backed by a big band? What if Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend and MGMT all had 13-piece horn sections? What if the Rock Band video game came with a whole bunch of trumpet and saxophone and trombone controllers? I am not saying this would necessarily be a desirable situation. But it is fun to think about. At least, it’s fun for me to think about. And my music for Secret Society essentially comes out of me imagining what a jazz big band would sound like in an alternate reality where big bands were still widely popular (instead of a curious anachronism), and where jazz was still on speaking terms with other musical genres.

Judging from the sizable audience for his blog, as well as the many enthusiastic reviews of the album, it appears Argue is not the only person who thinks this would be fun to think about. Argue delivers the goods on the album, to boot. The opening track, Phobos, layers flowing wind orchestrations over an intense guitar line in a way that weds Gil Evans and late-period Led Zeppelin. Transit is another highlight, a bona fide barnburner featuring an excellent solo from trumpeter Ingrid Jensen.

Argue might not change the trajectory of jazz, but he nonetheless offers a refreshing reinvention of the big band form. I can't wait to hear what he comes up with next. Those unfamiliar to Argue's work are recommended to check out his blog and website, where you can download free live recordings of the Secret Society, and his record label, New Amsterdam Records, where you can stream the album and anything else in their catalogue.


Track Listing: Phobos, Zeno, Transit, Redeye, Jacobin Club, Habeas Corpus (for Maher Arar), Obsidian Flow

Holiday Break

I'm off to Florida for the holiday, so no blogging until Monday. In the meantime, enjoy some links, and a stray YouTube or two...

• Jazz.com has an interview up with Dave Holland. Also check out their "Dozens" list of 12 Jazz Perspectives on The Beatles.
  
• This is from a few weeks ago, but read the program notes from the recent Secret Society gig at the Jazz Gallery, written by fearless leader Darcy James Argue. Messr. Argue writes earnestly about his and the Society's devotion to "this staggeringly inefficient method of music-creation." You can also read his All About Jazz interview here.
  
• Mark Myers remembers Thelonious Alone in San Francisco on JazzWax.
• I wish I had known about this 1964 Playboy jazz symposium featuring Cannonball Adderley, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Ralph J. Gleason, Stan Kenton, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, George Russell and Gunther Schuller when I was working on my MA thesis. It has some great discussions on the economics of jazz, race, cultural ownership, and the avant-garde.
• From The Gear Page, a tongue-in-cheek story about federal bailout funds for jazz musicians (h/t: International Review of Music).
  
• Though I already covered the subject in my Marsalis/Reagan post, just in case you skipped it, you really need to sit down with DTM's extensive posts on Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz Wars. Start here, and enjoy. Also, big thanks to Ethan Iverson for linking my Marsalis piece, it is very nice to be noticed.

That's it. Enjoy the long weekend. Someone recently turned me on to Miroslav Vitous' Journey's End. The album is up and down a little, but "Carry On, No. 1" is by far the best improvised minimalist tune I have ever heard. With that in mind, I'll leave you with Miroslav Vitous and Stanley Clarke playing "Freedom Jazz Dance."