On October 21, the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES) presents Polish jazz vocalist Grażyna Auguscik with Chicago-based bassist and composer Matt Ulery for an evening of music at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Auguscik and Ulery present a double bill tour promoting two new albums: Ulery’s new release of original music on Greenleaf Music, “In the Ivory,” and Grazyna’s new album, “Man Behind the Sun (songs of Nick Drake)”. The evening’s performers will also include Ulery’s core trio (Robert Clearfield, piano and Jon Deitemyer, drums) plus violinist Zach Brock. This is eighty minutes of resplendent, lyrical, transportive, and impeccably performed chamber-jazz music. Inspired and motivated by the musical and personal relationships developed while recording and performing By a Little Light—Ulery’s most ambitious project to date—In the Ivory explores the idea of consciousness through patient, lyrical composition.
This concert is a part of the Copernicus Program in Polish Studies’ year-long feature in Polish Jazz, both in course work and event programming. We intend to teach a short course, and host a series of performances, not all of which are announced yet.
October 21, 2014 | 8:00 PM
Polish jazz vocalist Grazyna Auguscik & bassist/composer Matt Ulery perform
Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor MI
Info: kerrytownconcerthouse.com
Sponsored by the Copernicus Program in Polish Studies and the Center for World Performance Studies. CREES is the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Michigan’s International Institute. CREES is a U.S. Department of Education-supported National Resource Center that awards Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships. CREES is home to the Copernicus Program in Polish Studies, and works alongside the Center for European Studies and Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies in association with the Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia.
Other upcoming concerts in the series
November 12, 2014 | 8 pm
Wacław Zimpel Quartet concert
Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor MI
Info: kerrytownconcerthouse.com
February 4, 2015 | 5:30 pm
Annual Copernicus Lecture with Tomasz Stańko & Piotr Michałowski
Stern Auditorium, U-M Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor MI
Info: www.ii.umich.edu/crees
February 5, 2015 | 7:30 pm
Tomasz Stańko New Balladyna Quartet performs Balladyna
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor MI
Info: ums.org/performance/tomasz-stanko
Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko is “one of the most original and creative jazz trumpet players in the world,” proclaimed the New Yorker. Inspired by early Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, he was 20 when he formed his first band in 1962 and has been a jazz hero in Europe ever since. The Tomasz Stańko New Balladyna Quartet will present Balladyna, based on the Polish tragedy written by Juliusz Słowacki in 1834 and published in 1839 in Paris. The quartet includes Tomasz Stańko, trumpet; Tim Berne, saxophones; John Hébert, bass; and Jim Black, drums.
[Source: Kopernikana press release]