Well into the second half of her 100-minute performance, Brazilian jazz pianist and vocalist Eliane Elias presented the famous song ‘Desafinado’, composed by the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim. The audience was familiar with the tune, and the pulsating bass solo and riveting drums added to their joy. The encore, comprising Jobim’s huge hits ‘The girl from Ipanema’ and ‘So dance samba’, had them singing along.
Elias had, of course, reserved the familiar pieces for the end. Most of her show at Mumbai’s Tata Theatre recently consisted of tunes from her own catalogue, written in Portuguese by composers popular in Brazil. There were bossa nova composer Carlos Lyra’s ‘Voce e Eu’, Dorival Caymmi’s ‘Saudade da Bahia’ and Ary Barroso’s ‘Aquarela do Brasil’. There were film tunes such as ‘To Each His Dulcinea’ from The Man Of La Mancha, which opened the show, and ‘A Felicidade’ from Black Orpheus, written by Jobim.
Looking graceful on the Steinway Grand Piano, Elias kept the crowd engaged with her deft playing, giving information about the compositions to help listeners appreciate them better. There were some hiccups too, as her voice seemed low in the mix in the first few numbers. Leandro Pelegrino’s guitar wasn’t heard consistently, and he didn’t get a solo too. There was also an early, unplanned break when Elias was unhappy with presence of a videographer.
Eliane Elias was on her first visit to India recently.
Once she settled down, Elias was a treat to hear, with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Rafael Barata providing perfect company. The show was a mix of bossa nova and samba tunes, though one wished she also sang some of the English songs she had recorded. Her presentation of ‘Esta Tarde Vi Llover’, which she recorded as a duet with Cuban great Chucho Valdes, and an instrumental version of ‘At First Sight’ from her June 2024 album Time And Again, displayed her finesse on the piano.
This was Elias’s first visit to India, which she said was the 78th country she had toured. Now 64, the Sao Paulo-born musician began learning the piano at the age of seven, and picked up quickly. She recalls, “My mom played classical piano and loved jazz pianists. She had a large jazz collection, and by the time I was 10, I was transcribing the solos of my favourite pianists.”
Initially, Elias was known for her piano skills, though she occasionally rendered wordless vocals. She had developed her own style of playing samba on piano. She says, “I toured with singer-guitarist Toquinho and lyricist Vinicius de Moraes, and we travelled around South America in the late 1970s. Samba is normally played by guitarists and percussionists, so I developed my own style of playing samba on piano.”
Her transition to singing lyrics happened slowly, and culminated in 1998 with the album Eliane Elias Sings Jobim. She points out, “When I sang in live shows, I noticed that I reached out to the audience in a different, more meaningful way. Singing also helped me include more songs to my repertoire.”
Mirror Mirror earned Elias a Grammy award for Best Latin Jazz Album — which she earlier won for her 2015 album, Made In Brazil.
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Elias has also played on albums by the Brecker Brothers, saxophonist Joe Henderson, guitarist Earl Klugh and Andy Summers, former member of the Police. In 2021, she released the album Mirror Mirror, containing duets with the great pianists Chick Corea and Chucho Valdez. She says, “I have known Chick since my earliest days of piano recording. We stayed in touch and often spoke of recording duets. As for Chucho, I always wanted to record with him since I heard him play with his father Bebo.”
Mirror Mirror earned Elias a Grammy award for Best Latin Jazz Album — which she earlier won for her 2015 album, Made In Brazil. It was followed in 2022 with Quietitude, a bossa nova album featuring some of her favourite Brazilian songs. It contains tunes rooted in Rio de Janeiro, where bossa nova flourished, and the north-eastern state of Bahia, home to many great composers.
On her new album Time And Again, Elias has worked with special guests including guitarist Bill Frisell and Brazilian singer Djavan. She says, “Each song touches a different emotional place, from exuberance and elation to reflection and light-hearted humour.”
Elias says her main focus has been to explore the rich music Brazil has to offer. “The composers of the mid to latter half of the 20th century have contributed immensely, and the language of jazz allows for conversation in music. Jazz works with all music, and blends beautifully with Brazilian music,” she says. In her recording career spanning four decades, Elias has taken the spirit of Brazilian jazz to different lands.
