The blaring, brassy sound of an 18-member jazz band filled the auditorium as the audience sat in awe and excitement. Horns resonated throughout the space as the pianist and bassist pounded chords behind the focused air of the saxophones.
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, a renowned jazz band from New York, visited Drake University last Wednesday to perform in Sheslow Auditorium as a part of Drake’s Ferguson Concert program. Secret Society is known for its big band sound and profound storytelling. Argue, composer and director for Secret Society, has been awarded a Latin Grammy award, a Doris Duke Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, along with multiple Grammy nominations and recognition from NPR and DownBeat. The Jazz Journalists Association named him the 2024 arranger of the year.
First-year Marisa Gross, a music education and vocal performance major, said the performance was interesting and amazing.
“I really liked that all of the compositions were very conceptual, and they all had this idea and this drive behind them,” Gross said.
Argue’s Secret Society is based in New York, but visited Drake University as a part of their 20th anniversary tour. Vancouver-born Argue studied in New York before forming his own band in 2005.
Professor of Trumpet and Patty and Fred Turner Professor of Jazz Andrew Classen was in charge of finding a high-level jazz group to play at Drake as a Ferguson event. Bringing a professional group like Secret Society from New York to Des Moines was no small task, but students found that it was worth the effort and the money to hear them play their music live.
“It’s so important that it’s here live because there’s something so special about living, breathing music, rather than just a recording,” Gross said.
Another unique aspect of live jazz music is soloists’ improvisation. Throughout the performance, nearly every musician has the chance to show off and make up a solo on the spot with the band supporting from the background, making the songs different every time. Argue confirmed that every solo throughout the performance was entirely improvised by the musicians.
This performance was made possible thanks to an endowment from 1931 Drake Law School graduate Edwin Earle Ferguson, which creates the opportunity to bring professional groups from far away to Drake’s campus.
“To have a group that you could only hear in New York, and to have that opportunity to hear a group of that caliber is, I think, why Earle [Ferguson] originally created this concert series,” Classen said.
The end of the concert was met with a long-standing ovation from music enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. The subsequent reception is a requirement for a Ferguson concert, “so that there can be interaction with the artists and the students and community,” Classen said. This time, filled with laughter and refreshments, allowed audience members to meet the instrumentalists.
Among the excited crowd of concertgoers and musicians, Gross spoke of the importance of having the renowned group at Drake.
“As students, we also have opportunities to make connections and talk to them and realize that these are real people doing real things with music, and we can do those things too,” Gross said.
