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
Falsa Baiana
Eliane Elias Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No samba e só fica parada
Não samba, não dança
Não bole nem nada
Não sabe deixar
A mocidade louca
Baiana é aquela
De qualquer maneira
Que mexe, remexe
Dá nó nas cadeiras
Deixando a moçada
Com água na boca
A falsa baiana
Quando entra no samba
Ninguém se incomoda
Ninguém bate palma
Ninguém abre a roda
Ninguém grita ôba
Salve a Bahia, senhor
Mas a gente gosta
Quando uma baiana
Samba direitinho
De cima embaixo
Revira os olhinhos dizendo
Eu sou filha de são salvador
The lyrics of Eliane Elias's Falsa Baiana highlight the contrast between a true baiana, who knows how to dance and knows how to get the crowd going, and a "falsa baiana" who enters the samba but does not participate fully. The baiana who does not samba, dance, or move in any way leaves the youth restless and unenthused. The true baiana, on the other hand, enters the samba any way she can and moves her body, leaving everyone in awe of her skills. The "falsa baiana" does not receive much attention from the crowd, while the true baiana is celebrated and admired.
The song also touches on the idea of authenticity, as the "falsa baiana" is not a real bahiana but rather an imposter. The lyrics imply that being fake and not showing one's true self are not admirable qualities. The song celebrates the authenticity and vibrancy of the true baiana, who knows how to move and dance with passion and energy.
Overall, Falsa Baiana is a commentary on the importance of passion, energy, and authenticity in samba and in life. The true baiana represents these qualities, while the "falsa baiana" represents the opposite.
Line by Line Meaning
Baiana que entra
A person from Bahia who joins a samba party
No samba e só fica parada
Stands still while the samba music is playing
Não samba, não dança
Doesn't dance or move to the rhythm of the music
Não bole nem nada
Doesn't even shake or move slightly
Não sabe deixar
Doesn't know how to let go
A mocidade louca
The enthusiastic and energetic youth
Baiana é aquela
A real Bahian dancer is someone
Que entra no samba
Who joins the samba party
De qualquer maneira
In any way, shape, or form
Que mexe, remexe
Who shakes and moves
Dá nó nas cadeiras
Ties a knot in the hips
Deixando a moçada
Leaving the young people
Com água na boca
Impressed and excited
A falsa baiana
A fake Bahian dancer
Quando entra no samba
When she joins the samba party
Ninguém se incomoda
No one pays attention or cares
Ninguém bate palma
No one applauds
Ninguém abre a roda
No one creates a circle to dance around her
Ninguém grita ôba
No one cheers or celebrates
Salve a Bahia, senhor
Hail Bahia, sir
Mas a gente gosta
But we like it
Quando uma baiana
When a real Bahian dancer
Samba direitinho
Dances properly
De cima embaixo
From head to toe
Revira os olhinhos dizendo
Rolls her eyes saying
Eu sou filha de são salvador
I am a daughter of Salvador (capital city of Bahia)
Lyrics © IRMAOS VITALE S.A. - INDUSTRIA E COMERCIO
Written by: Geraldo Theodoro Pereira
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Reinaldo Godinho
...Ainda mais tocando com uns baita Músicos! Viva Eliane Elias!
Ruffin
Immense plaisir de revoir cette superbe brésilienne, grande artiste Jazz Bossa, Magnifique
Reinaldo Godinho
Baita Som Brasileiro. Eliane Elias me mata com com seu suingue ao piano e voz.
Nani Sihite
She's very talented.., so proud of her...❤️
Ruy Freitas
Maravilhosa! Orgulho...
Edilson Lira
Encantando meu domingo. Grande artista brasileira.
Jordão
Menina, você canta MUITO ... Nosso coração se enche de alegria! 💖
Kisses from Brazil 😚 (Campos do Jordão, SP)
Алексей Ник Загребин
Все показатели на 5+:
внешность, женственность, привлекательность,
обаятельность,
музыкальность! 👍🤗😎🇷🇺
Carlos Marques
Espetacular!
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Pericles D.M.
A Eliane é uma pianista de fazer inveja, encanta demais quando canta, e tem um raro bom gosto. Assistir a suas apresentações, ou simplesmente ouvir suas interpretações, provoca uma indescritível sensação. Go ahead, Eliane.