Darcy James Argue, “one of the top big band composers of our time”(Stereophile), is best known for his 18-piece group, Secret Society. Argue brings an outwardly anachronistic ensemble into the present moment through his “ability to combine his love of jazz’s past with more contemporary sonics” and is celebrated as “a syncretic creator who avoids obvious imitation” (Pitchfork). Acclaimed as an “innovative composer, arranger, and big band leader” by The New Yorker, Argue’s accolades include multiple GRAMMY nominations, a Latin GRAMMY Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Doris Duke Artist Award, and countless commissions and fellowships.

Dynamic Maximum Tension, Argue’s latest album with Secret Society and his label debut on Nonesuch Records, is named after the three words that inventor and futurist R. Buckminster Fuller combined to form his personal brand: “Dymaxion” — a term reflecting Bucky’s desire to get the most out of his materials, the utopian vision of his designs, and his quest to improve the pattern of daily life. The album has been called “[Argue’s] best to date: a work of stunning eclecticism and complexity, but thoroughly accessible, elastic with swing” by Fred Kaplan of Slate, and “simply some of the most exciting music being made right now” by Stereogum’s Phil Freeman. Dynamic Maximum Tension was named one of the best albums of 2023 by DownBeat, NPR, and numerous other outlets, and earned Argue his fourth consecutive GRAMMY nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.

Acclaimed singer and MacArthur Fellow Cécile McLorin Salvant entrusted Argue with crafting the arrangements for her orchestral debut, With Every Breath I Take, on Nonesuch Records. Salvant and the Metropole Orkest interpret timeless songs by Duke Ellington, Steven Sondheim, Kurt Weill, and Cy Coleman, among others, in “brilliant” and “subtly inventive arrangements… blending bold sweeps of strings with spare passages” (The Wall Street Journal). Argue previously collaborated with Salvant on her original song cycle Ogresse, a project that exemplifies his affinity for blurring genres and deftly weaving sociopolitical ideas into ambitious, culturally resonant work. In the “breathtaking” (JazzNu) multimedia production Real Enemies, premiered in 2015 at the BAM Next Wave Festival, Argue tackles the rise of conspiracism and political paranoia, alongside his co-creators writer-director Isaac Butler and filmmaker Peter Nigrini.

In 2024, Argue was named Composer-in-Residence for the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, where he has presented collaborations with Brad Mehldau, Walter Smith III, Warren Wolf, and Aaron Diehl. He has toured with the Metropole Orkest, the Danish Radio Big Band, the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, and many others. His music was featured by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in their Contemporary Jazz Masterpieces concert, and his arrangements have been performed by the New York Philharmonic at their season-opening gala, and by Arooj Aftab with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms.

Argue has topped the Composer of the Year, Arranger of the Year, and Big Band of the Year categories in the DownBeat International Critics Poll. He has been commissioned by the MAP Fund, the Fromm Music Foundation, 92NY, the Newport Festival Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, BAM, and the Jazz Gallery, as well as ensembles including the NDR Big Band, the Danish Radio Big Band, the Canadian National Jazz Orchestra, NYO Jazz, the Hard Rubber Orchestra, the West Point Jazz Knights, and the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos. He is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, New Music USA, Composers Now, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Canada Council for the Arts, and MacDowell.