2009 was the 50th anniversary of Bossa Nova. The music that Ruy Castro wrote about in his book, "Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music that Seduced the World" continues to breathe. Bossa Nova was born in the late '50's and sprouted from the wealthy neighborhoods of the beach community of Rio de Janeiro. The music evoked the carefree beach life of musicians with the background of the middle and upper class; and the music was marketed to the same socio-economic class. It is a kind of music that induces the senses to romanticism with its easy samba rhythms and lyrics that evoke light-hearted living.
There were several CD releases that were dedicated to Bossa Nova in 2009. Of the several, there are two I am familiar with: Diana Krall's "Quiet Nights" (March 2009) and Eliane Elias' "Bossa Nova Stories (January 2009). "Quiet Nights," though having a later release date, was more popular because Diana Krall was already a proven and known jazz musician to North Americans. She became a household name in the mid-90's with the Grammy winning album "All for You: Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio."
And now there's this, "Bossa Nova Stories", the CD release by Eliane Elias, a Brazilian native and a piano prodigy who grew up in Sao Paulo. Reading the inside sleeve of the CD, Eliane wrote that she grew up hearing Bossa Nova in the '60's. "It was all around us" she said. "This was the popular music of our day, with its infectious rhythm and poetic lyrics romantic; cool, jazzy, sensuous, sublime. I lived and breathed this music; its in my DNA."
I had heard of Eliane Elias back in the '80's. The way the story goes she moved to New York from Sao Paolo, and she worked with Steps Ahead. Michael Brecker was the tenor saxophonist, and Eliane subsequently met and worked with his brother Randy Brecker to whom she was married for a period of time. I saw the couple perform at the Vancouver Jazz Festival during the festival's infant beginnings. .
In Eliane's own words, the music of this album is romantic, cool, jazzy, sensuous and sublime. I had spent sometime in Brazil back in 2004 and 2005, and it's not hyperbole to describe Brazilian women as elegant and gracious (from one woman to another) and these heartfelt words are exemplified in Eliane's rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Superwoman". The song has a melodic harmonica introduction by Toots Thielman. The arrangement is classy with Eliane's voice floating over Marc Johnson's bass playing and the percussion syncopated to Eliane's piano chords. Thielman plays harmonica in another song, "Estate" (a song written by Italian Bruno Martino). At times, his harmonica is akin to Pat Metheny's guitar in some of his Brazilian oriented songs. The other guest artist is Ivan Lins who provides some vocal backup in "Who Loves You".
Marc Johnson is now married to Eliane, and the couple toured extensively with a quartet in promoting "Bossa Nova Stories". A live performance in London back in September 2009 was reviewed by London Jazz as follows: "Elias is an astonishing pianist. The best I can do is to explain that I can't explain. How she does what she does as a pianist remains an enigma to me. That left hand is a store of huge power, the internal voicings and lines are complex, multidirectional, polyrhythmic, there is always masses of information being laid down."
Eliane can criss-cross between English and Brazilian-Portugeuse with ease in the 14 tracks (7 are Bossa Nova classics and the other 7 are American jazz standards and pop music.) I like the Portuguese accent in the English-lyrics songs. It's reminiscent of Astrud Gilberto's singing, but Eliane's voice is definitively contralto which gives an air of sophistication as opposed to the light-hearted innocence of Astrud's voice. Without further comparing Eliane's music to other artists, she is in her own right original in her translation of a music that she grew up with. Vinicius de Moraes had rehearsed in her family home and she toured extensively with him for three years. She owns this music, and the music of "Bossa Nova Stories" will bring you to the shores of the beaches of Rio de Janeiro where this music was born. She sings "Girl from Ipanema" without sentimentality which is refreshing - she announces "Tall and Tan and Young and Lovely" as though she sees herself walking that same sidewalk where Tom Jobim was stunned by the beauty and confidence of "Garota de Ipanema".----ANALYN REVILLA
Track listing: 1. The Girl from Ipanema 2. Chega De Saudade 3. The More I See You 4. They Can't Take That Away From Me 5. Desafinado 6. Estate (Summer) 7. Day In Day Out 8. I'm Not Alone (Who Loves You?) 9. Too Marvelous for Words 10. Superwoman 11. Falsa Baiana 12. Minha Saudade 13. A Ra (The Frog) 14. Day By Day Eliane Elias - vocals and piano Oscar Catro-Neves - guitar (all tracks except 7 and 13) Marc Johnson - bass Paulo Braga - drums and percussion Ricardo Vogt - guitar (tracks 7 and 13) Orchestra - (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 14)