Chopin Goes Jazz

Nowadays, jazz inspired by Chopin is played by many pianists. But this trend, initiated in the '60s by the Polish vocal group Novi Singers, gained its full swing thanks to you.

AJ: In the case of Novi Singers, music was very close to the originals; only small modifications were made to adjust the arrangement to the characteristics of a vocal ensemble. Before that, there were some solitary occurrences of drawing on classical music, in Poland and in the United States. But the first recording fully devoted to this particular inspiration was indeed my CD from 1993. An avalanche of various jazz recordings of Chopin's music followed soon after.

Critics of this trend claim that the originals are too perfect to be changed, that the romanticism of the classical music does not translate into jazz, and last but not least, that jazz musicians are attracted to it because of commercial profits. What do you say to that?

AJ: I am definitely not one of them, because the idea to record this music was born a long time ago and waited ten years to be realized. Actually, I thought of doing it at the end of my career.

Does this music sell well?

AJ: Let's face it – it is hard to make a living by playing jazz, all over the world. Jazz is very exclusive and does not receive as many big donations as does classical music.

Why did you pick Chopin?

AJ: It's difficult to imagine that in this country [Poland], it might be someone else. I was born here, in Warsaw. Here I studied at the Music Academy, I walked the same streets as Chopin did. I lived close to where Chopin lived. These are my musical roots. Besides, Chopin's music is a wonderful excuse for jazz improvisation. Chopin himself was a great improviser, and I am sure that if he lived today, he would swing.

In comparison with other jazzmen, your improvisations seem not so obvious; the feeling, the mood of the originals, however, is always there.

AJ: Such experiments make sense when the improvisation refers to the theme through the melody, harmony, and the mood. So if we play Bach, we need to improvise in a baroque style, as if we were playing a prelude or fugue. If we take Chopin, it needs to convey romantic mood. This is my point of view, but Chopin's music can be treated in a completely different way.

It's been fourteen years since your first CD with Chopin's improvisations was recorded. Has your approach changed?

AJ: I have changed the repertoire a little bit. The way I improvise has changed slightly as well. But it all depends where we play. If we play at a concert hall, we try to stay close to the original, so that the associations are easier, but if we play at a jazz club we are more liberal. We want to show that classical music is not such a “foreign body.” In the same way we are trying to bring jazz closer to the classical audience.

A lot of jazz pianists practice playing classical music. Do you?

AJ: I got closer to the piano thanks to Chopin's music and decided to become a jazz pianist despite the degree in another instrument. While still at the Academy, when I was hesitating whether to stay with the French horn or choose the piano and jazz, I thought that maybe one day I would be able to bring these two genres together, which in those days, at the beginning of the '80s, was unthinkable. But getting back to the question, I used to practice piano a lot in those days, more than the horn, and that almost ended with being thrown out of the school (laughs). It is nice to practice classical music, but you need to practice jazz phrases and riffs, as well as jazz scales, because this is what you play every day.

Jazzmen of your generation often suffered the lack of jazz schools and felt they had no choice but to attend classical academies. I get the feeling that in your case, your heart was torn between classical music and jazz.

AJ: It's absolutely true. Compared to the piano, the French horn is not such a versatile instrument, but it was really nice to sit in an orchestra, in the middle of this organism and, while playing Mozart, for example, listen to what was going on in the second bassoon or oboe. These were fascinating experiences, and I am sure they had tremendous effect on what I am doing now, playing a different instrument and playing different music. So it was a torn heart, but the love for jazz won.

***

You started your collaboration with Andrzej Jagodzinski many years ago.

Grazyna Auguscik: Yes, and I think that Andrzej's interpretations of Chopin's music are unique, authentic, wise, and very emotional, as well as faithful to himself and to Chopin's music.

Your main inspiration is folk music. What fascinates you most in this music?

GA: Its genuineness. It's also a part of our identity. Chopin is the best example of how folk music can be raised to a different level. But in my case, the magnetism of the folk music is in my genes. My grandparents and my parents played instruments and sang. I can feel this folk 'tune' and it can be heard in my singing, I think, whether I want it or not.

What about other inspirations?

GA: I draw on world's ethnic music – Brazilian, Arabic, African, Balkan – and I sing what is close to my style, to my feeling.

Where is the place for jazz in all that?

GA: Music has no boundaries. Folk music is in my roots, it's part of Nature, and I feel part of it. What we do with this music, or how we classify it, is irrelevant. These are labels only. I use a lot of scat singing, without words, to improvise on a particular theme. I like this aspect of improvisation, which is the most essential element of jazz.

Howard Reich from the Chicago Tribune wrote, “Grazyna Auguscik is not merely a vocalist but, rather, a musician who has a purpose for every note she sings.” When we say 'musician' we mean 'instrumentalist' – at best, 'conductor' – but we don't say it about a vocalist, unless he is an instrumentalist as well. What is the difference between 'just a vocalist' and a 'musician'? Where is the borderline?

GA: The voice is the most perfect instrument in its own right and has great possibilities. The difficulty lies in bringing these possibilities up. I use my voice not only to interpret lyrics, but also, through scat singing, to improvise; I use my voice like as instrument. It's a great pleasure to tell a story with your own language.

In your scat improvisations you often abandon the idea of a solo, but “play” together with the accompanying instrument.

GA: Yes, I like that, too. These are partially arranged sections, in which we create new colors, making the most of how the voice and the instrument sound together. Music is very colorful thanks to the vast array of sound qualities, both inherent in an instrument and generated by instruments playing together.

Sound is very important to you. Tomasz Stanko* once said that sound is the reflection of our life. Do you agree with that?

GA: Absolutely. We are constantly telling the story of our life with our music, and good sound helps us tell that story in such a way that the audience is waiting for more.

Why did you choose Chicago as your hometown?

GA: After I finished Berklee College of Music in Boston, many of my colleagues went to New York City, the capital of art and inspiration, but also a place of hard life for an artist. I imagined that at the beginning of my life in New York, I would probably have to do some odd jobs outside of music. I did not want to waste my time, so I decided to move to Chicago, which I had known from my previous visits. Chicago is a huge city, where lots of wonderful musicians live; it also has great musical traditions, in blues and jazz; finally, it's a multi-ethnic city, and that creates a great opportunity to collaborate with musicians who come from all over the world. But if you know what you want to do, you can live anywhere.

Tell us something about your record company.

GA: I started my independent recording business ten years ago. I am a producer and marketing director myself. This is very time-consuming and therefore a cause of my constant frustration, because there is little time left for music. I carry out my projects with the music that is close to my heart, and I cherish my complete artistic freedom; it gives me the impulse and 'fuel' to live. It takes a lot of courage to do what I am doing. Let's face it – I am a Pole living in the United States; I sing, which means I need to be in forefront; I need to give everybody work; I need to give it all some structure and sell it. Actually, I don't like interviews (laughs), because they ask me personal questions about my private life.

I am not (laughs).

GA: We are talking about nice things. But in fact, it is music that fills my whole life, and music is the most intimate part of it.

Poland's leading jazz pianist interprets the music of Frederick Chopin, arguably the country's greatest composer, with the vocal stylings of Grazyna Auguscik which has been described as a “Voice from Heaven” Saturday, March 3 at 8pm at Oglethorpe University's Lupton Auditorium.

This interview has been reprinted with permission from The Chopin Society of Atlanta.