Júlia Karosi, Without Dimensions Review

Vocalist and composer Júlia Karosi is a Hungarian musician who combines the rich sounds of Classical music with modern jazz sounds. Karosi’s vision for this combination has put her at the forefront of the Hungarian music scene with her distinctive style that skillfully integrates jazz and classical languages. This marriage of techniques can be heard in detail on her new full-length album Without Dimensions. Karosi uses the works of Béla Bartók, and Zoltán Kodály and the other half of the program are her originals to form her modern jazz language upon. Karosi explains, “I always wondered whether music belongs to any of the dimensions as theorized in the “standard model” in modern physics. I summarized my subjective answer as the title of this album. I believe that music’s apparent lack of dimensions pertains to its unique ability to lift us, humans, into a sphere of existence where we become unaware of time and space. I also believe that these timeless experiences are usually tied to specific events in our lives – often catching us unawares of their significance – the very moments that make our lives worth living for. I considered some unforgettable moments in my own life with the programmatic titles in my original compositions in this album. Rebirth reflects on the birth of my son, followed by Insomnia (obviously); Words and Beyond is a conflict between verbal and non-verbal forms of expression. Madeleine Moment is a musical quote of Marcel Proust’s poetic description of involuntary memory in his In Search of Lost Time. In this album, I wish to pay a “jazz tribute” to two of the greatest Hungarian composers of the twentieth century, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, with arrangements and jazz transcriptions of their works. I hope they wouldn’t mind!”

Bottom Line: Without Dimensions features fifteen tracks that include interpretations of the 20th-century composers Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly and Karosi’s original music. The strong influence of Hungarian music and heritage can be heard on all the selections. Karosi is joined by Áron Tálas on piano, Ádám Bögöthy on double bass, Bendegúz Varga on drums, and guitarist Ben Monder – also an ardent Bartók fan. Most of the melodies on the album are presented wordlessly by Karosi’s ringing soprano voice. Only from the Purest Source” Hommage Á Béla Bartók is a suite of seven of the composer’s themes cleverly rearranged into a mini-suite. The first section of the suite, “Bluebeard’s Castle Prologue,” features Karosi speaking. The second, “Mikrokosmos III, No. 92,” features a solid solo from Monder, Tálas, and Karosi. Karosi’s singing of the technically challenging Bartók melody is spot on. The title track opens with white noise like abandon that segues into a stunning haunting Karosi original melody. Karosi’s technical prowess as a composer and vocalist is in full force here. Kodaly’s “Epigrams No. 7, 8.” is an animated adventure in the possibilities of classical and jazz married and spinning forth sounds of passion and diversity. The ensemble flows with ease through the different feels, and the harmony between Monder’s guitar and Karosi’s singing is beautiful. Overall, Without Dimensions is a solid musical expression of instrumental and vocal acrobatics. The music is atmospheric, emotional and pushes the possibilities of jazz’s third stream sonics even further with the creative options offered in a small ensemble setting. That’s the short of it!

Connect with Júlia Karosi: Website |