Eliane Elias Shows Why She’s a Jazz Diva
We had the great fortune to enjoy the performance of Eliane Elias when she visited Seattle’s Jazz Alley this week.
Eliane’s show was a testament of great music, spiced by her Brazilian charm, and a talented quartet of musicians, which includes her.
The show had a good mixture of songs and rhythms, staying in what most would call “smooth jazz” which is Eliane’s trademark. She certainly played many songs from her most recent recording “Bossa Nova Stories”, added some jazz standards, and included a song from her next recording project, which Eliane will begin recording next month in New York.
Eliane Elias Quartet
The talented jazz musicians that accompanied Eliane Elias were Ricardo Vogt on guitar, Marc Johnson on bass, and Rafael Barata on drums. As Eliane mentioned during the show, Marc Johnson has been playing with her for 24 years, since she was 9 years old by her jokingly comment! Ricardo Vogt got few chances to showcase his art, but in the songs in which he could (mostly Bossa Novas) he demonstrated how good he is with the guitar. Rafael Barata was a constant force in the drums, and had Eliane swinging her arms in the air at the sound of Rafael’s drum solos.
Marc Johnson also demonstrated why he’s the bassist of choice for Eliane. He performed superbly and solidly, and I must note the curiosity that I hadn’t seen a bassist use a bow (only used it for a few notes in one or two songs) since the great Cuban bassist Cachao. The exciting thing about these jazz musicians is how well all play together with Eliane, who is without doubt an accomplished pianist in her own right, besides being an excellent vocalist.
Here’s the promo video of “Bossa Nova Stories”, the album from which Eliane played most of the songs.
Eliane’s Skill of Working the Audience
One of the highlights of the show for me is that Eliane Elias knows how to work an audience. She talked about the songs she was about to perform, sometimes telling stories about the song, the composer, or even a joke, which she had her guitarist Ricardo tell. As I’ve said in previous blogs, for me this is an important aspect of live music that artists just don’t use enough. When you hear a story or get a background about a song, you identify with the song more, and therefore, identify with the artist more. This is how you go from becoming a fan to becoming a loyal fan. A loyal fan is one that will have all or almost all your records. A loyal fan has alerts set for news about his favorite artist. A loyal fan can’t wait for the artist to release a new recording, and will buy it the very week (if not the day) it comes out.
Interacting with the public, providing more context to your music, really makes a show special for the audience. Eliane Elias was a perfect example of how this is done to win over an audience. And the proof was that after the show there was a line of people who had her sign the CDs they had from her. A couple of minutes well used between songs can make such a big difference on the audience experience.
Talent, Spice, and Charisma
Eliane’s Brazilian spice and charisma overflowed the stage. The charming way in which she addressed the public, the way she danced along in the only song she sang standing away from the piano, the jokes and comments, were evidence of why she’s such a diva of the jazz world. This was one of the most packed Tuesday nights I’ve seen at the Jazz Alley so far.
Eliane also guards her image quite carefully. She’s the 1st artist I’ve gone to see that wouldn’t allow any kind of photos taken, not even without flash. No photos, period.
All in all, Eliane Elias provided a show with great music and fun chats with the audience that resulted in a delightful evening at the Jazz Alley.