Eliane Elias

Website

http://elianeelias.com/

Bio

Celebrate the launch of TD Sunfest ’12 in grand style with a special indoor concert by Brazilian-born and New York-based pianist/singer/composer/arranger Eliane Elias.

This multi-Grammy Award nominee is known for a distinctive and immediately recognizable musical style, which blends her Brazilian roots and sensuous, alluring voice with impressive compositional and piano skills. All of her recordings have gone Top Five on Billboard and Top Five on the radio charts in the U.S., with many reaching number one. In 2008, she was France’s number two artist in CD sales on the Annual Jazz Charts.

Eliane first shot to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of the jazz supergroup Steps Ahead (Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, Mike Manieri and Eddie Gomez) and, in 1993, she became one of the few artists to release jazz and classical albums simultaneously. Since launching her career as a bandleader in 1986, Eliane has alternated tours with two different outstanding trios, one featuring drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gomez, and the other featuring drummer Erskine and her current husband, bassist Marc Johnson. She has also performed with a third trio (Johnson on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums). Her other major collaborations range from working periodically with Toots Thielemans' Brasil Project to serving as musical director of Gilberto Gil's group, and with conductor & arranger Bob Brookmeyer, leading the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra. In 2009, Eliane issued what many consider her finest recording, “Bossa Nova Stories,” fully engaging her Brazilian heritage in bossa and samba, and illustrating her singular jazz instincts as a pianist.

The Brazilian star’s latest album, “Light My Fire,” was released May 31, 2011 on the Concord Picante label and is enjoying tremendous acclaim. Ejazz News raved: “With vocals that simply drip sensuality, and a polished piano technique that has established her as one of the most talented practitioners on today’s jazz scene, Sao Paulo-born Eliane Elias is a formidable artist…Light My Fire accomplishes a delicate balance between the connected worlds of ultra-cool jazz, sexy bossa nova pieces and timeless pop anthems.”

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