Jazz Quartet
Hungary
Biography
“Júlia Karosi is a vocalist who bring her passion for music into her original compositions and lyrics. Her sound encompasses rich lows, pure high notes and a soulful timbre, while her spot-on intonation in both lyrics and improvisation makes her musical intentions perfectly clear.” (Judy Niemack)
“Here we have Julia Karosi and her wonderful musicians from Hungary whose every song is a delicious short story. The compositions are beautifully and intelligently written and performed with great inspiration and will be a joy to the ear, of many I’m convinced crossing the boundaries of jazz.” (David Linx)
“Karosi has a lovely voice and she uses her instrument with an infectious creative artistry. Her album and its musical choices suggest very clearly that Hungarian traditions are mine seams waiting for the knowing miner.” (Jack Goodstein at blogcritics.org)
“Júlia Karosi’s brilliant album Hidden Roots offers compelling evidence that jazz has truly become a global music. Here, Budapest-based vocalist Karosi and her extraordinary quartet effortlessly combine modern jazz with classic Hungarian folk songs.” (Thomas Cunniffe at Jazzhistory online)
“As a jazz reviewer, I hear such a plethora of vocalists who are popping out albums like corn kernels at a movie theater, many that are bland as unsalted butter. It’s so wonderful to hear a fresh voice that is full bodied, melodic and not nasal, and one that is composing and arranging her own music.” (Dee Dee McNeil at LaJazz.com)
“I had only listened once before sitting down to write the review, but found Julia’s voice simply stunning when I got back ’round to it. I give Julia & crew a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) of 4.99.” (Dick Metcalf at Rotcod Zzaj)
“Posing no real answer to the question of what is jazz, Karosi and her pals aren’t worried about it in the least, they just play. The boundaries are pushed nicely and not radically, and the chops on display cut across all languages and borders.” (Chris Spector at midwestrecord.com)
“Júlia spends much of her time melismatically and with a very interesting interpolation I think will intrigue non-European listeners” (Mark S. Tucker at acousticmusic.com)
“The real attraction is the extraordinary musicality of Julia Karosi – a resplendent voice, full of beauty and intelligence, all that and a team of superb musicians backing her.” (Grady Harp at Amazon.com)
Júlia Karosi was born to a musical family. Her mother is a renowed opera singer in Hungary, and her brother is an international award-winning concert organist. She has started to play the piano and violin when she was six, and she sung in school choirs at an early age. Soon she became interested in many areas of creative arts; she wrote poems, composed music, and took acting lessons. Her interest in human studies led her to win a distingushed award at the National High School Philosophy Contest in 2001. This award served her as a springboard to enter the Eötvös Lóránd University of Budapest majoring in Aesthetics and Philosophy. She earned two Master’s Degrees in 2006. While at the University, she turned her interest towards Jazz, and started studying it in a more rigorous manner. She entered a private music school to study with Gábor Winand. She graduated in the faculty of jazz ginging at the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy in 2011.
In 2009 she got the Jury’s Special Mention of the Voicingers International Jazz Competition For Singing Musicians in Zory, Poland. In 2010 after an audition to a Talent-mentor Program organized by the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy, the jury chose her as one of the five students who deserves a special mentoration. In 2011 at the Jazz Combo Competition organized by the Hungarian Jazz Federation her Quartet won the second prize with the singer’s composition “Sketches”. In 2012 she has participated in the Finals of Crest Jazz Vocal, France.
Júlia established her own Quartet in 2009. Their repertoire consists mostly of original compositions. Their sound is a mixture of classical music and modern jazz, their sounding is sensible, delicate, looking for a clear-out sonority. The members of the band: Júlia Karosi – vocal, Áron Tálas – piano, Ádám Bögöthy – double bass, Bendegúz Varga – drums. The band has performed in various jazz clubs and well-known jazz venues. Júlia’s first album containing ten original compositions with the title Stroller of the City Streets has been released in February, 2012.
“To roam, to ramble is the one experience, the strongest link that connects the songs, that’s why my album is entitled Stroller of the City Streets. The order of the ten songs reflects the journey the listener can join me on, from searching through roaming and strolling, all the way to arriving at your goal.” (Interview in Fidelio Online Magazine, 18 February 2012.)
The album was released by the Japanese Whereabouts Records in December, 2012. Remarkably, the Japanese Label released two albums at the same time. You Stepped Out of a Dream an EP inculding four covers came out also in Japan.
Júlia’s second album Hidden Roots was released in March 2014 by Dot Time Records, New York. Apart from a few folk song adaptaions the album contains mostly original compositions. Over and above the traditions of jazz, Júlia Karosi lays great store by folk songs, the music of Bartók, and the enviroment and culture that defined them, in other words, the roots, the exploration of which is the mission of this new album.