The Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club of Southern California presents a unique jazz concert by famous Polish jazz vocalist Grazyna Auguscik with Brazilian guitarist Paulinho Garcia. Entitled “Polska i Brazylia,” the concert will take place on Sunday, April 7 at 7 pm at the Illusion Magic Theater (formerly known as Magicopolis) in Santa Monica. Admission is free for Club members and $30 per person for guests.
This concert is supported by the Polish National Alliance (Greg Chilecki).
Sunday, April 7, 2024 | 7:00 pm
“Polska i Brazylia” Concert with Grazyna Auguscik & Paulinho Garcia
Illusion Magic Theater
1418 4th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Tickets for non-members ($30): send checks payable to “Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club” to PO Box 4288, Sunland CA 91041-4288 OR pay via PayPal to “prezes@modjeska.org“
More info: modjeskaclub.blogspot.com
About Grazyna Auguscik
Singer, composer, arranger, and producer Grazyna Auguscik has won the praise and admiration of music critics, jazz enthusiasts and even non-jazz audiences with a singular voice that speaks a universal language. She is one of the most intriguing contemporary vocalists on today’s world jazz scene. Her elusive style challenges traditional definitions of jazz and shows a vocalist and musician without boundaries. Her unorthodox approach to rewriting classic works pays tribute to their authors and at the same time is an adventure into uncharted territory. Her original music gives a fresh taste of uncanny flavor. She began her professional music career in Europe, and then completed her studies at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1992. Since then she has become a prolific collaborator, sharing the stage with such jazz notables as Michael and Randy Brecker, Jim Hall, John Medeski, Paul Wertico, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Robert Irving III, Michal Urbaniak, Urszula Dudziak, Patricia Barber, John McLean, Matt Ulery, Paulinho Garcia, Jarek Bester, Andrzej Jagodzinski and many others. Grazyna has recorded, produced and distributed 21 albums, 13 of which were under her own record label, GMA Records, and has appeared as a guest on as many projects. Her album “Pastels” was chosen one of the best of 1998 by National Public Radio listeners. Her 2002 release “River” placed her as one of the hottest young jazz talents in the country. In 2003 Grazyna received a Twirlie Nomination for Top 15 FEMALE VOCALISTS and was nominated for Best Female Vocalist of 2002 by the 22nd Annual Chicago Music Awards. She was named Best Jazz Vocalist 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2016 by a prestigious European Jazz Forum Magazine. In 2002 Fujitsu Concord Jazz Festival awarded her with the TOP VOCALIST title, and the album “Homage – Three for Brazil” recorded for Pony Canyon Records in Japan was on a TOP 20 JAZZ ALBUMS list in Asia.
The Grazyna Auguscik Orkestar Universale Project, presented at Millennium Park in Chicago in 2006, received a standing ovation, reaffirming that music can communicate across boundaries of language. Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune said about her performance: “Auguscik and her ensemble sound like nothing else you ever heard; they are out of this world. This must-see performer is one of the best voices to be heard today.” The album Andanca received a great review at DownBeat Magazine and radio stations around the country and abroad. Her concert “Chopin World Sound” at Millennium Park in Chicago with 14 musicians on stage on July 25, 2010, gathered over 10,000 people in the audience and was chosen one of the 10 most important performances during last three decades in Chicago area, next to Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Wynton Marsalis Septet, Frank Sinatra, Marcus Roberts, Tropicana Orchestra, Danilo Perez, Oscar Brown Jr., and Igor Butman. In 2011 she received the Outstanding Pole Aboard Award from the Teraz Polska foundation, and the Annual Award of the Polish Ministry of Culture. In 2017 she received Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis awarded by Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. In 2018 she received award from National Polish TV “Polonia Artist without Borders.” In 2016 she established “Sound and Notes” non-profit foundation and brought to Chicago “Chopin IN the City” – an 8-day arts festival in Chicago.
Paulinho Garcia in His Own Words
I was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. My first contact with music was very early in life, singing in a Sundays children program at Radio Inconfidencia in my hometown. Even though vocals have been my trade from the very beginning I’ve also played some instruments, starting first on percussion then drums, and lastly the bass, which then became my main performance instrument. The nylon string guitar (violão) has always been my companion, for learning new songs, making arrangements or just entertaining myself. It was only after I moved to the U.S. that it became my main instrument having been discovered as a vocalist who could also simultaneously play. Throughout my career I’ve played various styles of music, from boleros and tangos to rock and roll, to popular Brazilian genres. In my late teens I was introduced through recordings to vocal jazz i.e. Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, Chet Baker…. , which increased my interest in moving to the U.S. and became the trademark of my performances.
I moved to Chicago in 1979 to join the group Breno Sauer’s Brazilian Sounds that soon after became Made in Brazil. I was part of the band until 1991 when I then started my own band, Jazzmineiro, whose eponymous 1996 CD received excellent reviews in the Chicago Tribune, Jazziz magazine, the Brazilian Music Review, and The Brazilians. AWARDS include: Best Brazilian International Vocalist – 2012 …by The Brazilian Press Award; Chicagoan of the year in jazz – 2010 …by The Chicago Tribune; Brazilian person of the year – 2010 …by The Brazil Club; Chicago’s best jazz entertainer – 2001 …by The Chicago Music Awards – awarded to Two For Brazil; “Paulinho ought to be considered a Chicago treasure” – Howard Reich, Jazz critic – Chicago Tribune & L.A. Times.
I am a world-touring musician, and regularly perform in renowned jazz festivals, theaters and clubs, throughout Asia, Europe and America. My event production 50 years of Bossa Nova at the Chicago Millennium Park on July 24th 2008 was seen by a record audience of 12000 people. Alongside my 12 piece band, João Donato trio was brought in from Brazil for an unforgettable evening of music. In December of the same year I shared the stage with Jeremy Monteiro and Toots Tielemans for a sold out audience of 1800 people at the famous Esplanade Hall in Singapore. In 2016 I arranged, performed on and co-produced Mietek Szcześniak’s Nierówni CD which reach Gold Record in Poland. I’m also a clinician and has given workshops and concerts at many prestigious universities such as: Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Cornell University, University of Silesia in Katowice Poland, Hope College. In 2009-2010 I taught in Russia at the Moscow College of Improvised Music and gave live workshops on Russian TV. I taught Brazilian guitar and vocals at Chicago’s Old Town School of folk music for 13 years and presently I coach a Brazilian combo at Roosevelt University in Los Angeles since 2015.
Currently I sing, play guitar, compose, arrange, teach and produce recordings. It’s been a great musical journey, learning, creating, and sharing my gift.
[Sources: press release, modjeskaclub.blogspot.com]