One of the most overlooked jazz artists, Eliane Elias, has released yet another impressive and creative album. She’s released straight ahead albums, show tunes and albums of Brazilian moods. This time around she focuses on Sambas, all of them being originals. The real treat here is that most of the songs, backed by a mix and match team of Bill Frisell-Conrado Goys-Daniel Santiago-Marcus eixeira/g, Marc Jonson-Marcelo Mariano/b, Peter Erskine-Edu Ribeiro-Cuca Teixeira/dr, Marivaldo dos Santos-Davi Vieira/perc and Mike Mainieri/vib are supplemented by gorgeous and tasty vocal background arrangements from Mark Kibble, adding an extra breeze to the warm beachy fell.
Elias is upbeat and dreamy on things like “At First Sight”, and her percussive voice is a charmer as she digs in on the delectable “Falo do Amor”. She and the voices even get into a bit of R&B on “IT’s Time” while there’s an Ivan Lins-ish feel to the confident “A Volta”, with Bill Frisell’s guitar blending with the voices on the reflective, moody and dreamy “Too Late”. She cozies up to Djavan on a soulful “Sempre” , and even without any other vocal support, she glides around Mainieri’s vibes on the romantic “How Many Times”. She’s on a tour as of this writing-if you have a chance, don’t miss her!