Eliane Elias

Eliane Elias ([ɛliˈani eˈliəʃ]; born 19 March 1960) is a Brazilian jazz pianist, singer, composer and arranger. She has won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album (2016) and the Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album (2017).

Multi-Grammy Award-winning artist and #1 artist on several worldwide jazz and Brazilian music charts, Eliane Elias was born in São Paulo. She started studying piano at age seven, and at age twelve was transcribing solos from jazz masters. By the time she was fifteen, she was teaching piano and improvisation.

Elias's performing career began in Brazil at age seventeen with Brazilian singer-songwriter Toquinho and touring with the poet Vinicius de Moraes. In 1981, she moved to New York City, where she attended The Juilliard School of Music. A year later she became part of the group Steps Ahead.

Elias's first album was a collaboration with Randy Brecker entitled Amanda in 1984. Her solo career began when she signed with Blue Note Records and released the album Illusions in 1987, which featured Steve Gadd and Stanley Clarke. The following year Cross Currents appeared, featuring Eddie Gomez and Peter Erskine. Her third solo album, So Far So Close, had Eumir Deodato as associate producer in 1989.

Elias's recordings have garnered praise from critics and have topped the Billboard and jazz radio charts. In 1988, she was voted Best New Talent in the Critics Poll of Jazziz magazine.

In 1993 Elias signed with EMI Classics to record classical pieces, which were released on On the Classical Side.

In 2001, "Calle 54," a documentary film by Oscar-winning Spanish director Fernando Trueba, featured Elias performing "Samba Triste."The soundtrack received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album. In 2002, Elias recorded The Lost Days with Denyce Graves, arranging two Brazilian classical pieces and writing an original composition especially for Graves entitled "HaabiaTupi." In 2002, Elias signed with RCA/Bluebird and released Kissed by Nature, an album of mostly original compositions. Dreamer, her second recording for the label was released in 2004 and received the Gold Disc Award, as well as being voted Best Vocal Album in Japan. It reached No. 3 on the pop charts in France and No. 4 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. Elias' Around the City was released on the RCA Victor label in August 2006.

Elias returned to Blue Note/EMI in 2007 with Something for You, which won Best Vocal Album of the Year and the Gold Disc Award in Japan. This was her third consecutive recording to receive these awards, and her fourth overall. Something for You reached No. 1 on the U.S. jazz charts, No. 8 on Billboard, and No. 2 on the French jazz charts. In 2008, she recorded Bossa Nova Stories to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bossa nova.

In 2009, EMI Japan released Eliane Elias Plays Live. Light My Fire, released in 2011, features four compositions written or co-written by Elias and includes covers by songwriters including Jim Morrison and the Doors, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Desmond. In September 2011, Elias's song "What About the Heart (Bate Bate)" was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the category of Best Brazilian Song. In 2012, Elias collaborated with bassist Marc Johnson on the album Swept Away, the Editor's and Critic's choice in 2012 Downbeat and Jazztimes magazines, respectively. Her 2013 release, I Thought About You, reached No. 1 on the U.S. and French Amazon.com websites; No. 2 on iTunes U.S., France and Brazil; and No. 4 on Billboard.

Elias's Grammy-winning 2015 album, Made in Brazil, was followed by her 2017 Latin Grammy-winning Dance of Time album, which debuted at #1 on two Billboard Charts: Jazz and World Music. Both Made in Brazil and Dance of Time debuted at #1 on iTunes in seven countries and won Grammys for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year.

Eliane Elias is of Lebanese descent. She was first married to American trumpeter Randy Brecker, with whom she has a daughter, the singer/songwriter Amanda Elias Brecker, born in 1984. Elias is currently married to Marc Johnson, who plays bass in her band and co-produces her recordings.

• 1995: Grammy nomination, Best Jazz Solo Performance, Solos and Duets with Herbie Hancock
• 1997: Best Jazz Album, Down Beat magazine Readers Poll, The Three Americas
• 1998: Grammy nomination, Best Large Jazz Ensemble, Impulsive with Bob Brookmeyer and The Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra
• 2002: Grammy nomination, Best Latin Jazz Album, Calle 54
• 2011: Latin Grammy nomination, Best Brazilian Song, What About the Heart (Bate Bate)
• 2015: Latin Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Made in Brazil
• 2016: Grammy Award winner for Best Latin Jazz Album, Made in Brazil
• 2017: Latin Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Dance of Time
• 2017: Latin Grammy Award winner for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album, Dance of Time
• 2018: Winner of the Edison Lifetime Achievement Award (Holland)
• Five "Gold Disc Awards" (Japan)

Solo albums

• Amanda (Passport Jazz, 1985)
• Illusions (Denon, 1986)
• Cross Currents (Denon/Blue Note, 1987)
• So Far So Close (Blue Note, 1989)
• Eliane Elias Plays Jobim (Blue Note, 1990)
• A Long Story (Manhattan, 1991)
• Fantasia (Blue Note, 1992)
• Paulistana (Blue Note, 1993)
• On the Classical Side (EMI Classics, 1993)
• Solos and Duets (Blue Note, 1994)
• The Three Americas (Blue Note, 1996)
• Impulsive! (Stunt, 1997)
• Eliane Elias Sings Jobim (Blue Note, 1998)
• Everything I Love (Blue Note/EMI, 2000)
• Kissed by Nature (RCA/Bluebird, 2002)
• Dreamer (Bluebird, 2004)
• Around the City (RCA Victor, 2006)
• Something for You: Eliane Elias Sings & Plays Bill Evans (Blue Note, 2008)
• Bossa Nova Stories (Blue Note, 2008)
• Eliane Elias Plays Live (Somethin' Else/EMI, 2009)
• Light My Fire (Concord Picante, 2011)
• Swept Away (ECM, 2012)
• I Thought About You (Concord Jazz, 2013)
• Made in Brazil(Concord Jazz, 2015)
• Dance of Time(Concord Jazz, 2017)
• Music from Man of La Mancha (Concord Jazz, 2018)
• Love Stories (Concord Jazz, 2019)

Compilation albums

• Best of (Denon, 1995)
• The Best of Eliane Elias, Vol. 1: Originals (Capitol, 2001)
• Timeless Eliane Elias (Savoy Jazz, 2003)
• Brazilian Classics (Blue Note, 2003)
• Giants of Jazz: Eliane Elias (Savoy Jazz, 2004)
• Sings & Plays (Toshiba/EMI, 2005)

Collaborations

With Toninho Horta

• Moonstone (Verve Forecast/PolyGram, 1989)

With Earl Klugh

• Midnight in San Ruan (Warner Bros, 1990)

WithSteps Ahead

• Steps Ahead (Elektra, 1993)
• Steps Ahead(WEA, 1996)
• Holding Together (NYC Music, 1999)

With Brecker Brothers

• Out of the Loop (GRP, 1994)

With Randy Brecker

• Amanda (Passport, 1995)

With Joe Henderson

• Double Rainbow: The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim (Verve, 1995)

With Peter Erskine

• Motion Poet (Denon, 1998)

With Denyce Graves

• The Lost Days (BMG, 2002)

With Marc Johnson

• Shades of Jade (ECM, 2005)
• Swept Away (ECM, 2012)

With Amanda Brecker

• Here I Am (Birds, 2008)