For Brazilian born pianist and composer, Eliane Elias, the bristling tableau of songs that make up her 18th album, Around The City, crackle with the vitality of an urban nightscape. But it’s the mortar between the virtuosic gems crafted by Eliane, this time around, that sets Around The City apart from any of her other acclaimed efforts.

Staking out fertile co-writing sessions (for the first time in her career) with album co-producer, Lester Mendez, and songwriter Lauren Christy, as well as creative collaborations with the disc’s other co-producer, Andres Levin, Eliane focused on what she calls: “A vocal structure where the voice becomes almost a character itself.” She also imbues the 13 song disc with a sense of in-the-moment dynamics and fearless playfulness that rivals even the best contemporary rock sonnets. Once again the noted jazz sensation dazzles with her mesmerizing pianism and brave and delectable helpings of material, offering up exotic covers, including the Tito Puente penned-Santana hit “Oye Como Va”, an inspired version of Bob Marley’s “Jammin’”, and even a swirling Beck selection, “Tropicalia,” (culled from his 1998 album Mutations), which ironically, was a homage to the Brazilian Tropicalia psychedelic/soul fusion movement of the mid-1960’s (powered by the likes of Sao Paulo musical anarchists Os Mutantes, and Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil, among others), the latter of whom influenced Eliane’s early years.

It’s these kind of full-circle thematic leaps that Eliane traverses with such ease on Around The City, each song an entry-point into this ‘dual’ jazz citizen’s (as one reviewer dubbed her) musical template, with Eliane effortlessly gliding from song to song in both Portuguese and English. “I wanted the album to come alive – to be almost visual,” she says, the combustible title track proof-of-point, with its snapshot-narrative of city life from the perspective of a lonely ingÈnue. The album also represents the birth of a formidable slice-of-life songwriting style unleashed by Eliane. “A city can be lonely in places, while at the same time in another part of town, it’s exploding with energy. A good album with the right collection of songs can capture simultaneous emotions, as well. We are all definitely a product of the world around us and a city reflects that awareness better than anything. The different moods, the different struggles and challenges. I have always tried to take my upbringing, my background, and put it in my music. On this album I was more conscious than ever of carrying on with that attitude in every song.”

Literally evidenced on the disc’s opener, “Running,” a rousing self-declaration, with Eliane toasting those elastic Brazilian roots of hers with lines such as: Into the darkness/Not scared of loving/I turn my lights on/’Cause where I’m from we carry on…
“In Brazil we definitely ‘carry’ on” she laughs.

“The genesis of that song starts with the positive message or spirit I felt when making this record. I never begin something if I don’t feel it, and I knew before I started this project I wanted to concentrate on my writing more, where I consciously wrote involving my voice. I also knew that it was time for me to work with other writers and producers. Writing with Lester and Lauren and working closely with Andres Levin felt like a natural progression . They were all fans of my earlier work and intuitively knew the direction I wanted to go. I didn’t want to go out and make a Dreamer 2.”

A reference to her most recent release, 2004’s Dreamer, which scored both critical raves and some important career ‘firsts.’ “It was the first album where I concentrated on vocals and sang mostly in English,” says Eliane. It was also the first album where she was backed by a full orchestra. The songs on Dreamer were mostly covers, featuring several American songwriting standards, such as “Call Me” and “That’s All,” placed in a bossa nova setting. The well-received disc also featured two Eliane originals, and showcased – according to the artist – ‘the pianist accompanying the singer.’

“Dreamer enabled me to go all over the world singing those standards, with audiences growing increasingly enthusiastic with my voice. I knew I wanted my next project to be something where I could really personalize that imprint – through more writing and singing – challenging myself, but with a sense of adventure and abandon.”

Eliane also hooked up with lively producer Andres Levin, Latin-funk master known as the brainchild behind the Afro/Latin/Hip hop fusion of Yerba Buena (2005’s Island Life). It was as if Levin helped Eliane channel some of those funkier tropical side-streets herself on songs such as “Jammin’,” which features two live drummers and a looped chorus (the disc also boast Eliane’s first all-out use of electronic loops), the low-ride flavor of “Slide Show,” and the Santana classic “Oye Como Va,” where, Eliane says: “We mix bossa nova with a deep latin groove which is something I always wanted to do.”

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