Hello all,

Hello friends,

I’m overjoyed to announce that Dynamic Maximum Tension has been nominated for a GRAMMY! We are up for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.

We would not be here without your support and for that I am profoundly grateful.

This is a journey that began almost exactly 20 years ago, when I first moved to New York and began putting together rehearsals of my music. These reading sessions eventually led to the birth of Secret Society, and to our earliest gigs at CBGB and the Bowery Poetry Club. Many of my co-conspirators have been with me since those early days; all of them have breathed life into my music with incredible spirit and spark.

Dynamic Maximum Tension is the product of two decades of passionate toil, a genuine labor of love for all of us. On behalf of all of us, we are deeply grateful to all of you for making this recording a reality!

By now, all backers at the Digital Download, Hi-Res Digital Download, and 2 CD Set tiers should have received their rewards, and all backers at higher tiers should have received their download code and/or CDs. (If by some chance you did not receive your download code or physical CD, please contact me ASAP.)

For backers at the Masterclass tier, Bespoke Cocktail tier, and above, please keep an eye on your inbox as I am now preparing to fulfilling the remainder of your backer rewards!

Again, deepest thanks to you all for your tremendous support!

Ever up and onward,

— DJA

Hello all,

Due to a series of extremely unfortunate events — long story short: I migrated my web server to ensure that it would not be overwhelmed by download traffic, and, uh, that ended up breaking my site’s email — you may have had difficultly reaching me at info@darcyjamesargue.com. I deeply and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

If you are experiencing any difficulties with your download, please reach out to me instead at my backup email, secretsocietybigband@gmail.com, and I’ll get right back to you.

Best, and thanks,

— DJA

Hello friends,

You should have recently received an email containing the Backer Coupon Code that will allow you to download your advance digital copy of Dynamic Maximum Tension.

Didn’t get this email? Please check your junk mail folder for a message from info@darcyjamesargue.com.

Still having trouble finding it? Please email info@darcyjamesargue.com and I will make sure you receive your Backer Coupon Code and download instructions.

I’m very excited for you all to hear this music!

Best,

— DJA

Hello all,

I’m pleased to announce that I now have CD copies of Dynamic Maximum Tension in hand. If you opted for a tier that includes the 2 CD set, they will be shipping out shortly. I can’t wait for you all to hear this music!

If your shipping address has changed from what you entered during our crowdfunding campaign a year ago, please email info@darcyjamesargue.com with your new address AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! If you don’t recall what address you entered and would like to double-check, please also email me at this address.

The initial shipments are about to go out so please do not delay! I want to make sure that everyone who supported us at the CD tier gets their discs in hand as soon as possible.

Thank you again for your phenomenal support. I am very excited about this release and I hope you will be excited to hear it!

Yours,

— DJA

PS Have you seen the DMT Inspirations series on my website? Here are some things I have written about some of the people who inspired this recording:

Buckminster Fuller
Laurie Frink
Levon Helm
Mae West

Hello friends,

As backers of this recording, I wanted you to be the first to know: Dynamic Maximum Tension will be released on September 8, 2023.

I’m especially thrilled to announce that it will be coming out on Nonesuch Records, home to some of my favorite musicians, including Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, Tigran Hamasyan, Mary Halvorson, and my friend and collaborator Cécile McLorin Salvant (who  makes a guest appearance on the album). Nonesuch has been one of my very favorite labels since my teenage years, and working with them on this release is a dream come true.

It’s a dream that could only have been realized with your support. I’m so deeply grateful to each and every one of you for backing this recording and allowing us to bring this music to life in all its vivid detail. I’m extremely proud of this record and can’t wait for you to hear it!

(For a sneak peek, check out the just-released “Dymaxion” video featuring Carl Maraghi absolutely tearing it up.)

As backers, you will be the first to receive your copies of Dynamic Maximum Tension. The 2 CD package, designed by Lawrence Azerrad, is drop-dead gorgeous, and physical copies will go out to CD-level backers once we have them in hand. For those who opted for tiers with additional rewards, like the Masterclass Package or the Bespoke Cocktail Package, I will be reaching out to you soon.

On behalf of all of my Secret Society co-conspirators, please accept our deepest gratitude. We simply could not have done it without you. Our best to you all, and, as Billy Strayhorn used to say, ever on and upward!

— Darcy

PS If you would like to help us spread the word and let others know where they can pre-order, we invite you to share the following link:

https://darcyjamesargue.lnk.to/dynamicmaximumtension

And with that, our crowdfunding for Dynamic Maximum Tension comes to a close. With $26,000 raised from almost 300 backers, you have made this campaign a smashing success, very nearly doubling our previous crowdfunding total!

I’m so very grateful to each and every one of you, at every possible level. When I decided to record a double album with a group of 19 co-conspirators (plus guests!) and book the five days of studio time we’d need to document it properly, I knew that I was taking a massive risk. And when I decided to launch this crowdfunding effort, I was actually rather apprehensive that we might not reach our goal… but the outpouring of support has been truly incredible and deeply moving. Thank you all so very much! I am proud to have your support.

As I mentioned on the crowdfunding page, we don’t have a firm release date yet for Dynamic Maximum Tension, but I will update everyone as soon as we do. Of course, as backers, you will receive early access to the album prior to its general release. For those who selected the Masterclass, Bespoke Cocktail, and Patron tiers, I will be in touch with you when we approach our release date about your custom rewards.

Again, on behalf of all of my co-conspirators, very deepest thanks to all of you for making this recording possible!

All best, and hold fast,

— DJA

After five long, intense, thrilling, exhausting days in the studio, Dynamic Maximum Tension is officially in the can.

A five-day recording session for a jazz album — even a double album like this — is an incredible rarity, but I promise you, we took full advantage of every single second! My co-conspirators truly outdid themselves with their focus, commitment, attention to fine detail, and absolutely inspiring soloing. I have worked with many of these musicians for many years, and I can tell you in all sincerity that the solos on this record are some of the best solos I have ever heard from my co-conspirators.

And our guest artists — Cécile McLorin Salvant and Sara Caswell — absolutely slayed it. Simply put, they are the best there is at what they do, and what they do is phenomenal.

Again, I truly cannot thank all of you enough for your support — it’s been absolutely extraordinary! Here is a photo gallery documenting some of the moments from our past five days.

Getting ready for a recording session is both a marathon and a sprint. The preparations for this record begun a long, long time ago — a true marathon — but the last few weeks have been an all-out sprint. Last week I the finishing touches on “Mae West: Advice,” featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant — the final piece I needed to compose for this recording — and made final adjustments to everything else, all while putting my co-conspirators through some intense but deeply satisfying rehearsals.

As soon as I finish writing this, I’m going to try to get something approaching a decent night’s sleep for the first night in a loooong time, before heading out to Power Station NYC first thing tomorrow morning for Day One of our marathon five-day recording session. I’m going to have my hands full and probably won’t be able to update much here, but follow #DMTrecording on our social media streams for updates from musicians and production personnel. And once we wrap, over the weekend I will share photos from the session here, including some exclusives just for backers.

I’m unbelievably excited about this record! As a composer, you hate to pick favorites, but I think it represents some of the best music I’ve ever written, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

I’m enormously grateful to each and every one of you. None of this would be happening without your support, which has been just tremendous. I remain honored and grateful that you have demonstrated your belief in our music by contributing so generously to this recording project.

We still have 7 more days left in our crowdfunding campaign, so please let people know that if they haven’t already contributed, and would like to reserve an advance copy of the recording or any other backer rewards, time is running out!

Again, my very deepest and most sincere gratitude to all of you. We look forward to making a record that you will be proud to have supported!

Yours most appreciatively,

— DJA

Oh my god, you guys, we did it! We reached our crowdfunding goal for Dynamic Maximum Tension!

Thanks so much to each and every one of you. Your contributions allow us to record this music, and to document it at the highest possible level. On behalf of all of my co-conspirators, we’re just massively grateful to each and every one of you for your support.

For my part, it is such a relief to see the project funded before we enter the studio! I was actually rather anxious about this crowdfunding project, but it has succeeded beyond my wildest expectations! The campaign is still open for the next 19 days, so please continue to share the project and let people know about the backer rewards that can still be theirs!

Again, deepest and most profound thanks to each and every one of you. Your support means the world.

Yours most appreciatively,

— Darcy

Last night, at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club, we previewed the music for Dynamic Maximum Tension for an enthusiastic, sold-out crowd. The band is sounding wonderful, and I’m so excited to be documenting this music!

Thanks to you, we are also over 90% of the way to our fundraising goal! Your support has been absolutely incredible! We’d love to cross that finish line before the week is out, so please continue to let people know about this campaign and all the great rewards we’re offering. 

And again, deepest and most heartfelt thanks from me and from all of my co-conspirators.

— DJA

As of 12:47 PM on Sunday — less than 72 hours after launching this campaign — we reached 100 backers and are 75% of the way to our goal! This is far and above our wildest expectations for the pace of this campaign. If this continues, we could reach our goal before our performance at Dizzy’s on August 9th, which would be a wonderful thing!

Thank you all so much — you’re amazing! Secret Society has the most incredible, inspiring fans. Please continue to spread the word and help us blast across that finish line!

I’m honestly speechless. Forty-eight hours into our crowdfunding campaign for Dynamic Maximum Tension and we are already more than 60% of the way to our goal!
 
Making a double album with an 18-piece band is an incredibly daunting proposition, but the support you have shown for this project has been nothing short of amazing! My very deepest and most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has generously backed this recording!

Sincere thanks as well to all of you who have shared our crowdfunding campaign on social media — it helps an enormous amount!

My co-conspirators and I are humbled by the outpouring of support. We can’t wait to record this music!