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Dolce Casa Cafe
May 17th 2012
4947 North Damen Avenue
Chicago, Ill 60625
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Paulinho Garcia and Grazyna Auguscik
Paulinho Garcia and Grazyna Auguscik
Date Posted: January 06 2011
Written By: Randy Freedman
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Most of us who listen frequently to live music develop preferences for specific venues and venue types. Perhaps we occasionally even do some hypothetical wishful pairing in an attempt to match venues and musicians in the most complementary manner possible. I was fortunate enough to once hear Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member singer/songwriter Bob Seger early in his career at a bar in Schaumburg shortly before his popularity exploded. Seger, to my knowledge, never again played venues in Chicago smaller than the United Center, which I can easily imagine made for a very different listening experience than the more intimate one I enjoyed.
From the time of my first visit to the diminutive and charming Q2 nightclub (located in the stately Homestead Hotel in north suburban Evanston and featuring jazz duos twice monthly) I couldn’t help but think that it would be the perfect spot to host the popular Chicago-based international duo of Polish vocalist Grazyna Auguscik and Brazilian guitarist/vocalist Paulinho Garcia. When they were scheduled for a November appearance at Q2, it became the top priority on my musical calendar. Auguscik and Garcia had just returned from a performance tour in Poland about ten days prior to this engagement at Q2.
Garcia has been a Chicago resident since 1979 and was a founding member of the groundbreaking Made in Brazil band. His teachings at the Old Town School and Roosevelt University, as well as his recordings and performances, have had a profound influence on Chicago musicians currently performing Brazilian music. He is virtually regarded as the “Godfather” of Brazilian music in Chicago by many of those musicians.
Auguscik has lived in Chicago since 1994, and in addition to her collaborations with Garcia, often tours in the U.S.A. and Europe with her own band, where she performs in a more avant-garde jazz style. In 2006, Auguscik was assistant producer and guest vocalist on Patricia Barber’s well-received Mythologies album.
The near perfect manner in which their voices harmonize together makes it hard to discuss Auguscik and Garcia without lapsing into hyperbole. In jazz commentary, hyperbole (“This is the best jazz album of the past thirty years” or “her voice was as sweet as honey”) generally makes me cringe, especially when it is casually used or wasted on the unworthy.
In this particular case, however, in the service of accuracy, I feel moved to say that the soothing baritone voice of Garcia and the cooler soprano of Auguscik blend together perfectly in one of the most natural and pleasing pairings since bread first met butter.
Among those who had never heard them before that night, the surprise and pleasure amid the Q2 audience was palpable when Auguscik and Garcia began their performance with the classic bossa nova jazz standard, “Aqua de Beber.” By the time they had completed their next song, the idyllic, mellow, and often-performed “Summer Samba,” the audience seemed charmed and captivated.
This served the duo well when they ventured into riskier ground with their lyric-less vocal reinterpretation of Frederic Chopin’’s “Nocturne in E Minor,” before returning to more expected favorites like “Wave” and “The Girl From Ipanema.” With their Q2 audience hungry for more of their music and not prepared to let the evening end, Auguscik and Garcia were gracious enough to extend their performance well past the scheduled two hours, to the delight of all present.
The odds that these two musicians, born in places as far away from each other as Brazil and Poland, would ever meet to combine their musical talents in Chicago are infinitesimal, but the Q2 audience that night were the musical lottery jackpot winners.
For more information contact: paulinhogarcia.com, gmasounds.com or quincerestaurant.net.
Chicago freelance writer Randy Freedman is a jazz connoisseur, photographer, food critic, humorist, and devoted music fan. He is a regular contributor to Chicago Jazz Magazine.
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