Polish Cultural Institute
350 Fifth Avenue, suite 4621
New York, NY 10118
GRAZYNA AUGUSCIK &
THE ANDRZEJ JAGODZINSKI TRIO CHOPIN GOES JAZZ
AT JOE'S PUB
AS STARS OF POLISH JAZZ JAM WITH A MASTER
New York -- Capping their U.S. tour, renowned Chicago-based jazz singer, Grazyna Auguscik and Poland's acclaimed Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio will give a concert of Chopin-inspired jazz at Joe's Pub on Wednesday, March 7th, at 9:30 PM, in a performance co-presented by the Polish Cultural Institute. In Chopin Goes Jazz, Auguscik vocally complements interpretations by Jagodzinski, a pioneer of the “Chopin stream" in Polish jazz, with her flare for scat and by tapping, as did Chopin, into Polish folk music. Polish-born Frdric Chopin, who moved from Warsaw to Paris at age 20, is revered around the world as one of the greatest composers. But as a composer, his own reverence for Bach and Mozart did not prevent him from respectfully transforming traditional musical structures; and as a pianist he was startlingly innovative and a master of improvisation. It is therefore not surprising that he has inspired a new stream in Polish jazz.
Grazyna Auguscik (grah-ZHIN-a ow-GOOSH-cheek), the Polish-born singer, composer, arranger, and producer, has been winning the praise and admiration of music critics with a singular voice that speaks a universal language. With an elusive style that challenges the traditional definitions of jazz, she is one of the most intriguing vocalists on the jazz scene today, Her unorthodox approach to rewriting classic works is at once a tribute to its authors as well as an adventure into uncharted territory, while her originals have an uncanny flavor of their own.
Having already trained and performed in Europe, Auguscik completed her studies in 1992 at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since 1994 Grazyna has made Chicago her home, where she performs at the legendary Green Mill, with memorable appearances at the 1998 and 2002 Chicago Jazz Festivals.
Grazyna has recorded ten albums, six under her own record label, GMA Records, and appeared on as many projects as guest performer. Her album Pastels was chosen one of the best of 1998 by National Public Radio listeners and Fragile was deemed one of the Top 20 of 2000 by Chicago's NPR station WBEZ. Rivers received rave reviews in 2002. More recent work has included Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, a tribute to Bruno Schulz, with the Cracow Klezmer Band, The Light, Welcome Everything - Guitar Madness, with Kurt Elling, and Lulajze -The Lullaby for Jesus - all released in 2005. Grazyna won a nomination as Best Female Vocalist of 2002 in the 22nd Annual Chicago Music Awards, and was named Best Jazz Vocalist three years in a row - for 2002, 2003, and 2004 - by Europe's Jazz Forum Magazine.
Grazyna Auguscik is not merely a vocalist, but rather a musician who has a purpose for every note she sings, for every phrase she lingers upon - or dramatically cuts short. - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune Her convergent technique could well foretell the future of jazz singing. - Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times
Andrzej Jagodzinski (AHN-jay yah-gaw-GIN-ski), composer and arranger born in 1953, is one of the best Polish pianists - jazz or otherwise. He received his degrees from the Frederick Chopin Conservatory, where he studied French horn while already engaged by the Polish Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra. He has played with most of the best jazz groups in Poland, including the Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet, The Jan Ptaszyn Wroblewski Quartet, and Jarek Smietana's Polish All Stars.
The Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio's first album, Chopin, was named Best Record of 1994 by Jazz Forum Magazine and won the Fryderyk Award (Polish Grammy) as best jazz record of the year. With Adam Cegielski on bass and Czeslaw Bartkowski on drums, the Jagodzinski Trio have continued to explore jazz interpretations of Chopin, their CD output including Chopin - Live at the National Philharmonic (1997), Once More Chopin, and Metamorphoses (both 1999). The Trio was a key influence in launching the “Chopin stream" in Polish jazz. In 2006, besides concerts in Poland, the Trio performed in the U.S., Argentina, Iceland, Sweden, and Japan. One of Poland's leading jazz pianists interprets the music of the country's greatest composer. [...] One of the best examples of classical jazz since Art Tatum tackled Massenet. - Music and Media (England) Most attempts to jazz up [classical music] are doomed to failure but Jagodzinski manages to avoid the “switched-on Bach" approach, listening out for those aspects of Chopin's celebrated pianism which are most jazz-like [...] Very beautiful and unaffected music. - Richard Cook & Brian Morton, the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 1996
LISTINGS: WHAT: Chopin Goes Jazz - Poland's leading jazz musicians interpret the music of Chopin: Grazyna Auguscik and Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio WHEN: Wednesday, March 7, 9:30 PM WHERE: Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street (bet'n East 4th and Astor Place), New York, NY 10003 TRANSPORTATION: Subway: 6 to Astor Place; N, R to 8th Street/NYU ADMISSION: $15, 212-967-7555
About the Polish Cultural Institute
The Polish Cultural Institute is a diplomatic mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland to the United States established in 2000.
Based in New York, the Institute is dedicated to nurturing and promoting cultural ties between the United States and Poland, both through American exposure to Poland's cultural achievements, and through exposure of Polish artists and scholars to American trends, institutions, and professional counterparts.
The Institute takes an active collaborative role in the organization, promotion, and in many cases the actual production of a broad range of cultural events in theater, music, film, literature, and the fine arts.
With its extensive contacts in both America and Poland, the Institute is in an excellent position to help such initiatives in a variety of ways that include fund-raising, facilitating contacts in Poland, organizing concurrent panels of artists and scholars, generating press coverage, and developing public outreach.
350 Fifth Avenue, suite 4621
New York, NY 10118
GRAZYNA AUGUSCIK &
THE ANDRZEJ JAGODZINSKI TRIO CHOPIN GOES JAZZ
AT JOE'S PUB
AS STARS OF POLISH JAZZ JAM WITH A MASTER
New York -- Capping their U.S. tour, renowned Chicago-based jazz singer, Grazyna Auguscik and Poland's acclaimed Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio will give a concert of Chopin-inspired jazz at Joe's Pub on Wednesday, March 7th, at 9:30 PM, in a performance co-presented by the Polish Cultural Institute. In Chopin Goes Jazz, Auguscik vocally complements interpretations by Jagodzinski, a pioneer of the “Chopin stream" in Polish jazz, with her flare for scat and by tapping, as did Chopin, into Polish folk music. Polish-born Frdric Chopin, who moved from Warsaw to Paris at age 20, is revered around the world as one of the greatest composers. But as a composer, his own reverence for Bach and Mozart did not prevent him from respectfully transforming traditional musical structures; and as a pianist he was startlingly innovative and a master of improvisation. It is therefore not surprising that he has inspired a new stream in Polish jazz.
Grazyna Auguscik (grah-ZHIN-a ow-GOOSH-cheek), the Polish-born singer, composer, arranger, and producer, has been winning the praise and admiration of music critics with a singular voice that speaks a universal language. With an elusive style that challenges the traditional definitions of jazz, she is one of the most intriguing vocalists on the jazz scene today, Her unorthodox approach to rewriting classic works is at once a tribute to its authors as well as an adventure into uncharted territory, while her originals have an uncanny flavor of their own.
Having already trained and performed in Europe, Auguscik completed her studies in 1992 at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since 1994 Grazyna has made Chicago her home, where she performs at the legendary Green Mill, with memorable appearances at the 1998 and 2002 Chicago Jazz Festivals.
Grazyna has recorded ten albums, six under her own record label, GMA Records, and appeared on as many projects as guest performer. Her album Pastels was chosen one of the best of 1998 by National Public Radio listeners and Fragile was deemed one of the Top 20 of 2000 by Chicago's NPR station WBEZ. Rivers received rave reviews in 2002. More recent work has included Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, a tribute to Bruno Schulz, with the Cracow Klezmer Band, The Light, Welcome Everything - Guitar Madness, with Kurt Elling, and Lulajze -The Lullaby for Jesus - all released in 2005. Grazyna won a nomination as Best Female Vocalist of 2002 in the 22nd Annual Chicago Music Awards, and was named Best Jazz Vocalist three years in a row - for 2002, 2003, and 2004 - by Europe's Jazz Forum Magazine.
Grazyna Auguscik is not merely a vocalist, but rather a musician who has a purpose for every note she sings, for every phrase she lingers upon - or dramatically cuts short. - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune Her convergent technique could well foretell the future of jazz singing. - Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times
Andrzej Jagodzinski (AHN-jay yah-gaw-GIN-ski), composer and arranger born in 1953, is one of the best Polish pianists - jazz or otherwise. He received his degrees from the Frederick Chopin Conservatory, where he studied French horn while already engaged by the Polish Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra. He has played with most of the best jazz groups in Poland, including the Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet, The Jan Ptaszyn Wroblewski Quartet, and Jarek Smietana's Polish All Stars.
The Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio's first album, Chopin, was named Best Record of 1994 by Jazz Forum Magazine and won the Fryderyk Award (Polish Grammy) as best jazz record of the year. With Adam Cegielski on bass and Czeslaw Bartkowski on drums, the Jagodzinski Trio have continued to explore jazz interpretations of Chopin, their CD output including Chopin - Live at the National Philharmonic (1997), Once More Chopin, and Metamorphoses (both 1999). The Trio was a key influence in launching the “Chopin stream" in Polish jazz. In 2006, besides concerts in Poland, the Trio performed in the U.S., Argentina, Iceland, Sweden, and Japan. One of Poland's leading jazz pianists interprets the music of the country's greatest composer. [...] One of the best examples of classical jazz since Art Tatum tackled Massenet. - Music and Media (England) Most attempts to jazz up [classical music] are doomed to failure but Jagodzinski manages to avoid the “switched-on Bach" approach, listening out for those aspects of Chopin's celebrated pianism which are most jazz-like [...] Very beautiful and unaffected music. - Richard Cook & Brian Morton, the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 1996
LISTINGS: WHAT: Chopin Goes Jazz - Poland's leading jazz musicians interpret the music of Chopin: Grazyna Auguscik and Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio WHEN: Wednesday, March 7, 9:30 PM WHERE: Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street (bet'n East 4th and Astor Place), New York, NY 10003 TRANSPORTATION: Subway: 6 to Astor Place; N, R to 8th Street/NYU ADMISSION: $15, 212-967-7555
About the Polish Cultural Institute
The Polish Cultural Institute is a diplomatic mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland to the United States established in 2000.
Based in New York, the Institute is dedicated to nurturing and promoting cultural ties between the United States and Poland, both through American exposure to Poland's cultural achievements, and through exposure of Polish artists and scholars to American trends, institutions, and professional counterparts.
The Institute takes an active collaborative role in the organization, promotion, and in many cases the actual production of a broad range of cultural events in theater, music, film, literature, and the fine arts.
With its extensive contacts in both America and Poland, the Institute is in an excellent position to help such initiatives in a variety of ways that include fund-raising, facilitating contacts in Poland, organizing concurrent panels of artists and scholars, generating press coverage, and developing public outreach.
For more information contact Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services.
