" data-original-title="" title="">Darcy James Argue's Secret Society most strikingly, self-consciously wrestle with the form's history. Argue describes his group as a "steampunk" big band, making very clear that, for him, anachronism isn't to be avoided, it's the point.

While the Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra—which premiered Giraudo's "Campo" suite at the Jazz Gallery on Friday, March 6th—is not as proudly postmodern as Argue's group (none of Giraudo's songs, after all, are based on David Foster Wallace endnotes), it nonetheless falls into the self-referential camp. Like Argue's group, the Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra approaches big band music from a historical perspective; it's very much aware of its inheritance and eager to celebrate it and bend it to its own ends.

The Orchestra's immersion in the big band tradition manifested itself even before the music began: instead of adhering to the modern jazz dress code of hipster casual, the band members opted for dark suits and sharp ties. Their traditional appearance proved consonant with their sound—lively and lush, a well-choreographed attack of brass blares and sax swoons.

Nostalgia of a different kind animated the compositions of the band's eponymous leader, a New York–based, Argentine–raised bassist. Childhood memories of Giraudo's grandmother's countryside estancia formed the thematic framework of "Campo," which moved from an opening dedicated to two "beautiful and shy" country girls to a remembrance of the smells and tastes of sweetened mate. These memories came across musically in Giraudo's use of Argentine folkloric melodies and (especially) rhythms, which gave the proceedings an irregular, clave-heavy, beat.

"A La Escuela," the first piece of the "Campo" suite, began with a sparse Giraudo solo before breaking into a full orchestral attack—the melody passing between the two trombones, two trumpets, and four saxophones. Tony De Vivo, playing cajón, added polyrhythmic palming that undercut the horns' supper club style, and trombonist