Written by Ernest Barteldes
Over a career that has spanned almost three decades as a recording artist, Brazilian-born Eliane Elias has done it all. After a period backing Vinicius de Morais and Toquinho in her late teens she relocated to the United States in the early 80s and established herself as a jazz pianist. She has performed and recorded alongside legends like Herbie Hancock bassist Eddie Gomez and saxophonist Joe Henderson, to name a few.
On her latest release Light My Fire (Concord), Elias follows up on 2009's Bossa Nova Stories (Blue Note), a disc that paid tribute to the 50 years of the music movement that changed the face of jazz and pop around the world. On the new disc, she revisits classics like Paul Desmond's "Take 5," Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" and Dorival Caymmi's "Rosa Morena," a tune that was previously recorded by the likes of Rosa Passos and João Gilberto.
The CD also features three duets with Gilberto Gil and a very personal - and sexy - rendition of the Doors' "Light My Fire." Backing her are great players in their own right such as Romero Lubambo (guitar), Oscar Castro-Neves (guitar) husband Marc Johnson (bass) and daughter Amanda Brecker.
We caught up with Elias over a phone interview from her Long Island home, when she talked about the new disc, her early days and also the prospect of playing in Brazil - something she hasn't done in a long time but would definitely like to.
Elias celebrated the release of Light My Fire with a residence at New York's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (Broadway at 60th Street, 4th Floor - www.jalc.org ) from May 31st to June 2.
On Light My Fire, you chose a selection of tunes that is quite diverse. How was the process?
When I finish making a record, I'm already thinking ahead, you know, things I will do next. So the process happens over time, it doesn't happen a few months before. For this recording I knew I wanted to give continuity to the work that I've been doing singing as well as playing, of course, so I wanted to bring a little more of Brazil.
In my most recent recordings, I had a tribute to bossa nova called Bossa Nova Stories (Blue Note). I also had a tribute to (pianist) Bill Evans - that was a jazz recording, but the last few records I did were more towards bossa nova and I thought it would be interesting to bring other elements of Brazilian music into this recording, and also bring some originals, because in the past ones I didn't do that. So I wrote some songs - one of them is a tune that I wrote many years ago with Gonzaguinha (1945-1991) in 1988. We were planning to do collaboration. I was recording with Blue Note when he passed away.
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