The 2016: State of Jazz Composition Symposium

Darcy James Argue and his band, Secret Society, made their mark with their critically acclaimed 2009 debut, Infernal Machines(New Amsterdam Records).

In 2013, they released Brooklyn Babylon which, like Infernal Machines before it, earned them nominations for both Grammy and Juno awards. Argue and Secret Society have continued to net accolades, including topping the Big Band category in the 2015DownBeat Critics Poll. 

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Samuel Torres is a classically trained percussionist who is drawn to the sound and rhythms of different musical styles, especially Latin American and jazz. He toured the world for four years with Grammy Award-winner Arturo Sandoval and has played with renowned jazz artists such as Chick Corea, Poncho Sanchez, Pete Escovedo, Dave Valentin, Michael Brecker, Don Byron, Claudio Roditi, and the late Tito Puente, among others.

Torres’s stellar playing landed him the Second Place in the hand percussion competition at the 2000 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. He creates beautiful yet challenging music designed to appeal to the discriminating listener. His style is artful, dynamic, and relaxed, and matches speed with precision. One of his congo solos was described by the Boston Globe as “ferocious" and seemingly "not humanly possible.

The multiple roles in which John Clayton excels—composer, arranger, conductor, producer, educator, and, yes, bassist—have earned him a Grammy Award as well as eight Grammy nominations. 

His career highlights include arranging the "Star Spangled Banner" for Whitney Houston's performance at the 1990 Super Bowl (the recording went platinum); playing bass on Paul McCartney's album Kisses on the Bottom; arranging and playing bass with Yo-Yo Ma & Friends on Songs of Joy and Peace; arranging, conducting, and performing on the 2009 album Charles Aznavour & the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra; recording with Diana Krall, the Clayton Brothers, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Milt Jackson, Monty Alexander, and many others; and working with Queen Latifah, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Gladys Knight.

Terence Blanchard made a name for himself early in his career as a top-tier jazz trumpeter from New Orleans who has gone on to enjoy a multifaceted career both in the jazz camp and beyond. A five-time Grammy winner, Blanchard is also an accomplished composer of film scores and soundtracks, operas, and Broadway scores.

He serves or has served as artistic director of several important entities, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s jazz series; the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami.

Billy Childs has emerged as one of the foremost American composers of his era, perhaps the most distinctly American composer since Aaron Copland – and like Copland, he has successfully married the musical products of his heritage with the Western neoclassical traditions of the 20th century in a powerful symbiosis of style, range, and dynamism.

Childs has garnered thirteen Grammy nominations and four awards: two for Best Instrumental Composition and two for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist. In 2006, Childs was awarded a Chamber Music America Composer’s Grant, and in 2009 he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was also awarded the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2013, and most recently, the music award from The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2015.

Pianist and composer Andy Milne has been an important and respected voice on the New York jazz scene for over 20 years. During the 1990s, he was at the center of the M-BASE collective, collaborating extensively with saxophonist Steve Coleman as well as with Cassandra Wilson and Greg Osby.

In addition to his multiple projects, Milne is a sought-after educator. He serves as assistant director of the School for Improvisational Music and is an adjunct professor at New York University, New School University, and Columbia University.