ELIANE ELIAS

“Dance of Time is so far one of the best Brazilian-rooted albums of the year” says World Music Central

ELIANE ELIAS CELEBRATES HER ROOTS

USA-based Brazilian pianist and vocalist Eliane Elias has become of the most familiar names in the world of Brazilian-rooted jazz. Her new album Dance of Time takes Eliane back to her Brazilian roots in a brilliant manner.

Dance of Time was recorded in Brazil and the result is a truly exquisite recording. There is not a weak track on this album. Eliane Elias effortlessly balances her talent as a pianist and singer-songwriter, delivering some of her finest material, injecting spirited samba.

Dance of Time features first class talent from Brazil and the United States, including pianist Amilton Godoy, singer- songwriter and guitarist João Bosco, guitarist and vocalist Toquinho, trumpeter Randy Brecker, vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and the unmistakable remarkable vocals of Mark Kibble (Take 6).

The performances on Dance of Time are remarkable and the recording quality is superb.

Dance of Time is so far one of the best Brazilian-rooted albums of the year.

Angelo Romero April 28,2017

Eliane Elias Celebrates Her Roots

Angelo Romero April 28,2017

London Evening Standard calls Eliane ‘Legend of the Bossa Queen’ and gives her a 4 star review

Eliane Elias, review: Legend of the bossa queen

Elias proved she’s an artist at her peak, says Jane Cornwell 4/21/17

Spectacular playing:  She’s told it before but she’ll tell it again: Eliane Elias was just 17, leading her trio at a gig in Sao Paolo, when she spotted Joao Gilberto and Vinicius de Moraes, the creators of bossa nova, seated down the front.

“As close as you are now,” said the New York-based virtuoso, 57, smiling at a rapt front row from behind a grand piano. Adding that she would go on to work with the pair for three years, she dedicated Chega de Saudade, the first ever bossa, in their honour, her sweet croon and spectacular playing – delicate skips, cascading trills, wildly percussive chords – vindicating their faith, and then some.

The double bassist Marc Johnson, formerly of Bill Evans’ trio, clung tenderly to his instrument, as if it was all too beautiful.

An artist at her peak, Elias is getting her dues. Her last record, 2015’s Made In Brazil, won her a Grammy, finally, after seven previous nominations (“So, you know, never give up!”).

Current album Dance of Time, a salute to samba and to the musicians who helped her on her way, went straight to Number One all over the place. Little wonder: tracks including a Latin-tinged Sambao Sambao and her own exquisite ballad, Little Paradise, fizzed with optimism, bathed you in warmth. “Obrigado,” she said at the end, looking heavenwards.

Read the full review here.

The London Times give Eliane’s live performance 4 stars!

The Brazilian singer-pianist Eliane Elias must occasionally glance at the tour schedule of Diana Krall (two nights at the Albert Hall) and wonder why her star hasn’t risen quite so high. They are two glamorous women playing jazz with a breezy hipness. Elias’s voice is characterful if small compared with Krall’s, but as an improvising pianist she puts the Canadian in the shade.

Still, six sold-out shows at Ronnie Scott’s is no small achievement and Elias arrived trailing accolades for her new album, Dance of Time. Her career has mixed South American rhythms with North American jazz, but her first set was rooted firmly in the southern hemisphere.

The opener, Antônio Carlos Jobim’s Somewhere in the Hills, the first of many sambas, set the tone. Elias’s percussive left hand propelled the rhythms, her right hand embellishing the tune with intricate bebop and bravura flourishes. Drums, guitar and the double bass of her husband, Marc Johnson, added supple support and the music seemed to float. Sambou Sambou introduced Caribbean grooves, which would have inspired dancing in any audience that wasn’t seated and still digesting its dinner.

Elias wears her artistry lightly. Others with her pianistic skills might flaunt it on grand technocratic opuses. Instead, João Gilberto’s O Pato (The Duck) is a pop song about the singing adventures of assorted park life. It nonetheless found room for an elegant bowed bass solo from Johnson. The guitarist Rubens de La Corte offered discreet melodic support while the drummer Rafael Barata was all brushed precision.

Amid the sambas, there were gentler moments too. Elias’s tender love song Little Paradise showed off her writing talents. A guitar solo opened You’re Getting to Be a Habit With Me, once a staple for Frank Sinatra. Yet as the set progressed the intensity increased, Elias introducing rolling blues and gospel chords, sparking funky interplay between piano and bass. The uptempo samba Coisa Feita developed a giddy momentum, with Barata unleashing a bravura solo on drums.

Thanks to the sunny contours of Brazilian music and those soft-focus album sleeves, there are some who still dismiss Elias as jazz-lite. A show such as this demonstrates how wrong they are.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jazz-eliane-elias-at-ronnie-scotts-w1-r3vbj72g3

Jazz: Eliane Elias at Ronnie Scott’s, W1 ★★★★☆

Dance of Time debuts on Billboard at Number 1!

Congratulations to Grammy-winning pianist/singer/composer/arranger Eliane Elias as her new album, Dance of Time, debuts at #1 on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Albums and World Music Albums Charts!