Pianist Eliane Elias and her well-acquainted trios maintain a soft fullness of sound on this recording, the latest in her 10-year career with Blue Note. The jazz is straight-ahead and bluesy, and quick to boogie-woogie (the band's already ΓÇ£Bowing to BudΓÇ¥ Powell at the first fade-out). Marc Johnson, former Steps Ahead bandmate/Christian McBride (bass), Jack DeJohnette/Carl Allen (drums), and Rodney Jones (guitar) are ready, willing and able to swing.
As a vocalist, Ms. Elias expounds solely on the subject of love. ΓÇ£Blah Blah BlahΓÇ¥ is at once a humble offering of song to a lover and a clever swipe at cookie-cutter swoons. There is a refreshing self-mocking humor and tender vulnerability in her tone, akin to fellow Brazilian A.C. Jobim's ΓÇ£Off-Key (Desafinado).ΓÇ¥ Her skills in emotive playing, composing, arranging and singing are just as harmonious, making her one of the finer innovators in jazz.
Eliane Elias: All recordings courtesy of Blue Note Records. ΓÇ£Everything I LoveΓÇ¥ written by C. Porter, courtesy of Chappell & Co. Inc. (ASCAP). ΓÇ£I Fall In Love Too EasilyΓÇ¥ written by S. Cahn and J. Styne, courtesy of EMI Feist Catalog Inc. (ASCAP). ΓÇ£Bowing To BudΓÇ¥ written by E. Elias, courtesy of Pandamanium Music (BMI).
