After the highly acclaimed run of quartet recordings from Not Far From Here (2019), The Next Door (2022) to Under The Surface (2025), German pianist Julia Hulsmann has decided to alter the narrative and up the ante with a newly formed octet of award-winning instrumentalists and vocalists. On While I Was Away, Julia combines the line-up of a classical trio (violin, cello, piano) with a common jazz piano trio and invites three singers to join in for a program of adventurous originals, an individual take on Ani DiFranco’s 1999 hit “Up Up…” and a breezy Brazilian tune by songwriter Zélia Fonsesca. A wide pallet of musical connotations unfolds as Brazilian dance, musical-like storytelling, chamber music dynamics and passages of dense, free improvisation colour a fluorescent picture of a fierce ensemble.