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 Marvellous For Words
10. Superwoman
11. Falsa Baiana
12. Minha Saudade
13. A Ra (The Frog)
14. Day by Day
Eliane Elias - Vocals, piano
Marc Johnson - Bass
Paulo Braga - Drums, percussion
Oscar Castro Neves - Guitar (tracks 1-6, 8-12,
14)
Ricardo Vogt - Guitar (tracks 7, 13)
Toots Thielemans - Harmonica (tracks 6, 10)
Ivan Lins - Vocals (track 8)
For her second album this
year (see my review of her previous CD
(www.musicweb-international.com/jazz/2008/Elias_5117952.htm),
pianist/vocalist Eliane Elias has chosen to
celebrate 50 years of the bossa nova with
14 pieces in that idiom. As a Brazilian growing
up in Sao Paulo in the 1960s, she says she
was surrounded by the bossa nova: "This was
the popular music of the day, with its infectious
rhythm and poetic lyrics: romantic, cool,
jazzy, sensuous, sublime".
In some ways, this CD is
like the album Imagina I reviewed recently
by Karrin Allyson, with lyrics sung in both
English and Portuguese. In fact, Elias eases
us into the album by starting with the English
words for The Girl From Ipanema, a
pleasantly relaxed performance of a song that
is in serious danger of becoming hackneyed.
Eliane is not such a distinctive singer as
Karrin Allyson, so it is a pity that this
album gives precedence to her vocals over
her piano playing. It is a delight when we
hear her (however briefly) featured at the
piano, as in the twinkling solos on Chega
de Saudade and Day by Day.
In fact, the small instrumental
content and the sweeping orchestral strings
on half the tracks push the CD dangerously
near the category of "easy listening", especially
as most of the tunes are in the same genre:
gentle bossas. However, the fact that an album
is easy to listen to doesn't necessarily damn
it, and Eliane introduces variety by treating
familiar songs in fresh ways. For example,
Day In, Day Out is given an infectious
sway by the bossa beat and Elias's unusual
piano voicings. And the presence of mouth-organiser
Toots Thielemans adds piquancy to the two
tracks he guests on.
If you have to choose between
this album and its predecessor, I would recommend
Something For You, but this new recording
is still a very agreeable album, although
perhaps best suited for use as "dinner jazz".
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Blue Note 50999 2 28103 2 8
