Born on the 19th March 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil, Elias started learning to play the piano at the age of seven, and was transcribing solo portions of her parents’ jazz records by the age of twelve.
After studying for six years (and teaching by the age of fifteen) at Brazil’s prestigious Free Centre of Music Apprenticeship, she continued her classical education with Amilton Godoy and Amaral Vieria. She was also the protégé of Vinicius de Moraes, lyricist and songwriting partner of Antonio Carlos Jobim, a huge influence on Elias' work, and master of the Brazilian bossa nova movement. By the time she was seventeen years old she was touring with the best bossa nova composers and interpreters, composing her own pieces and performing at jazz clubs regularly.
Elias then moved to New York and studied privately with Olegna Fuschi at the Julliard School of Music, eventually joining jazz supergroup Steps Ahead (whose members included Eddie Gomez, Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, and Mike Mainieri).
Her first live instrumental recording, Eliane Elias Plays Live, was recorded in Amsterdam on the 31st May 2002, and digitally released in the USA in 2010.
Elias lives in New York City with her husband, bassist Marc Johnson.
* Official site
The classical tradition meets the spontaneity of jazz through the virtuosic playing of Brazil-born and New York-based pianist Eliane Elias. A former member of jazz ensemble Steps Ahead, Elias has continued to explore two distinct musical streams through her solo recordings and her performances since the mid-'80s. In 1993, she became one of the few artists to release jazz and classical albums simultaneously. In a review of a concert in her homeland, Brazil magazine praised Elias for "her dazzling right-hand runs, executed often at frightening speeds. Her command of the keyboard was total. Her harmonic sensibility caused a sense of wonderment."
Elias may have inherited at least some of her musical talents from her mother, Lucy, a classical pianist who often played jazz records in the family home. After studying for six years at the Free Center of Music Apprenticeship in São Paulo, she continued to study classical technique with Amilton Godoy and Amaral Vieira. By her teens, Elias was composing her own pieces and performing in jazz clubs. While touring in Europe in 1981, she met jazz bassist Eddie Gomez and was encouraged to travel to New York. Arriving in the Big Apple the following year, she studied privately with Olegna Fuschi at the Juilliard School of Music. Elias' professional career received a boost when she was invited to join Steps Ahead, a jazz "supergroup" featuring Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, Mike Manieri, and Eddie Gomez. She recorded one album with the group -- Steps Ahead -- in 1983. Shortly after leaving Steps Ahead, Elias began collaborating with trumpet player Randy Brecker, whom she subsequently married but later divorced. Their sole duo album, released in 1985, was named after their daughter Amanda. The following year, Elias launched her career as a bandleader. Since then, she's alternated tours with two different trios, one featuring drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gomez and the other featuring drummer Erskine and her current husband, bassist Marc Johnson. Elias has also performed with a third trio, featuring Johnson on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums.
She signed with Blue Note in 1989, and released her debut for the label, So Far So Close, the same year with a slew of guests. While most of her recordings have been instrumental, Elias introduced her soft but coarse vocals on her 1990 album Eliane Elias Plays Jobim, and has employed vocals on occasion ever since. Her 1995 album Solos and Duets featured a brilliantly executed duet with Herbie Hancock. In addition to working periodically with Toots Thielemans' Brasil Project, Elias has served as musical director for Gilberto Gil's group. While she continued to record for the rest of the '90s, it was 2000's Impulsive! that proved one of the largest surprises in her career as she collaborated with conductor and arranger Bob Brookmeyer leading the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra. In 2002 she left Blue Note for RCA's Bluebird label, where she debuted with Kissed by Nature, a primarily vocal album, and followed it up with the lovely Dreamer in 2004. Elias released Around the City in 2006, a collection of primarily vocal tracks that moved ever further into pop territory, covering music by Santana, Bob Marley, and even Beck. It was her final album for Bluebird.
She returned to Blue Note for 2007's Something for You: Elaine Elias Sings & Plays Bill Evans, fronting a trio with Johnson (who played with Evans) and drummer Joey Baron. In 2009, she issued what many have argued is her finest recording, Bossa Nova Stories, fully engaging her Brazilian heritage in bossa and samba and illustrating her singular jazz instincts as a pianist. In 2010, Savoy Records issued Timeless Eliane Elias, a compilation of tracks culled from her mid-'80s recordings Illusions and Cross Currents. In late 2010, Elias signed with Concord; in the late spring of 2011 she released Light My Fire, her debut set on the label. A year later, Elias paired with bassist Marc Johnson for the instrumental ECM date, Swept Away. In 2013, Elias paid homage to trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker with I Thought About You: A Tribute to Chet Baker. ~ Craig Harris & Thom Jurek, Rovi
Chega De Saudade
Eliane Elias Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
E diz a ela
Que sem ela não pode ser
Diz-lhe numa prece que ela regresse
Porque eu não posso mais sofrer
Chega de saudade, a realidade é que sem ela
Não há paz, não há beleza, é só tristeza
Não sai de mim, não sai
Mas se ela voltar, se ela voltar
Que coisa linda, que coisa louca
Pois há menos peixinhos a nadar no mar
Do que os beijinhos que eu darei na sua boca
Dentro dos meus braços os abraços hão de ser milhões de abraços
Apertado assim, colado assim, calado assim
Abraços e beijinhos e carinhos sem ter fim
Que é pra acabar com esse negócio de viver longe de mim
Não quero mais esse negócio de você viver assim
Vamos deixar desse negócio de você viver sem mim
Não quero mais esse negócio de você viver assim
The lyrics of Eliane Elias's song, "Chega De Saudade," convey a longing for a lost love. It starts with the singer acknowledging the depth of their sadness and pleading with their sadness to convey to their beloved that their absence is causing them immense pain. The singer even prays for the person to come back because they cannot bear to suffer any longer.
The chorus, "Chega de saudade," translates to "enough of longing," and the reality is that without this person, there is no peace or beauty, only sadness and melancholy that the singer cannot shake. The second verse continues with the thoughts of what it would be like if the person returned, how it would be a beautiful but crazy thing because of how much the singer loves them. The line about there being fewer fish in the sea than kisses the singer would give refers to the sheer amount of love they have bottled up inside of them.
The third verse speaks of the physical embrace the singer longs to share with the person upon their return. Millions of tight hugs and kisses and endless affection to make up for the time they spent apart. The singer is tired of living without their love and wishes to put an end to the torment they've been experiencing.
Line by Line Meaning
Vai minha tristeza
My sadness goes
E diz a ela
And tells her
Que sem ela não pode ser
That it cannot be without her
Diz-lhe numa prece que ela regresse
Says in a prayer for her to return
Porque eu não posso mais sofrer
Because I can't suffer anymore
Chega de saudade, a realidade é que sem ela
Enough of longing, the reality is that without her
Não há paz, não há beleza, é só tristeza
There is no peace, no beauty, only sadness
E a melancolia que não sai de mim
And the melancholy that doesn't leave me
Não sai de mim, não sai
Doesn't leave me, doesn't leave
Mas se ela voltar, se ela voltar
But if she returns, if she returns
Que coisa linda, que coisa louca
What a beautiful thing, what a crazy thing
Pois há menos peixinhos a nadar no mar
Because there are less fish swimming in the sea
Do que os beijinhos que eu darei na sua boca
Than the kisses I will give on her lips
Dentro dos meus braços os abraços hão de ser milhões de abraços
Inside my arms, the hugs will be millions of hugs
Apertado assim, colado assim, calado assim
Squeezed like this, stuck like this, silent like this
Abraços e beijinhos e carinhos sem ter fim
Hugs and kisses and cuddles without end
Que é pra acabar com esse negócio de viver longe de mim
That is to end this business of living far away from me
Não quero mais esse negócio de você viver assim
I don't want this thing of you living like this anymore
Vamos deixar desse negócio de você viver sem mim
Let's stop this thing of you living without me
Não quero mais esse negócio de você viver assim
I don't want this thing of you living like this anymore
Lyrics © VM ENTERPRISES INC, Editora e Importadora Musical Fermata do Brasil Ltda., CORCOVADO MUSIC CORPORATION, Tratore, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Vinicius De Moraes, Antonio Carlos Brasileiro De A Jobim
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jzzgrl3
One of my top favorite jazz performances of all times. Eliane shines as always with her superb piano and vocal expressions and her interaction with her band members. An all star cast. I never get tired of listening to this.
@anaalban8836
Otra obra maestra de la música brasilera. Eliane canta todo perfectamente.
@Memo2Self
This has become my favorite song of all time, period. And I think this is the best version of it I've ever heard, which is saying something!
@user-zl8rv2lm1j
De esas 77,000 vistas , yo creo que el 10% son mías. Muy admirable ejecución del grupo y maestría en cada instrumento. Ya no encuentro halagos para describir mi gusto por ver y oír "Chega De Saudade"
@robertoburdo4775
Formidable. Eliane and her group are over the best
@rociomercedesoliverahernan9747
Amazing performance!!!! really wondelful!!!!
@fernandogimenez4105
Eliane Elias não conhecia, que falha heim, maravilhoso grupo.
Delicia de jazz.
Obrigado, um presentão. 🎉
@Luana1990med
Simplesmente não há o que falar. Amazing!
@MarkPrigoff
I LOVE THIS PERFORMANCE!
@MrLuca60
Una versione stupenda a dir poco, musicisti di alta sensibilita e tecnica, Jazz con anima brasiliana, bravi veramente. Ogni volta che ascolto questa versione ho la pelle d'oca e un sorriso grande, musica che mi riempe il cuore di gioia. Grazie a tutti xox