Eliane Elias (b. 1960) is a Brazilian jazz composer, pianist, and singer. Read Full Bio ↴Eliane Elias (b. 1960) is a Brazilian jazz composer, pianist, and singer.

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

O Pato
Eliane Elias Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

O pato vinha cantando alegremente, quém
Quando um marreco sorridente pediu
Pra entrar também no samba, no samba, no samba
O ganso gostou da dupla e fez também quém, quém
Olhou pro cisne e disse assim "vem, vem"
Que o quarteto ficará bem, muito bom, muito bem
Na beira da lagoa foram ensaiar
Para começar o tico-tico no fubá

A voz do pato era mesmo um desacato
Jogo de cena com o ganso era mato
Mas eu gostei do final quando caíram n'água
Ensaiando o vocal
Quém, quém, quém, quém
Quém, quém, quém, quém
Quém, quém, quém, quém

O pato vinha cantando alegremente, quém
Quando um marreco sorridente pediu
Pra entrar também no samba, no samba, no samba
O ganso gostou da dupla e fez também quém, quém
Olhou pro cisne e disse assim "vem, vem"
Que o quarteto ficará bem, muito bom, muito bem
Na beira da lagoa foram ensaiar
Para começar o tico-tico no fubá
A voz do pato era mesmo um desacato
Jogo de cena com o ganso era mato
Mas eu gostei do final quando caíram n'água
Ensaiando o vocal
Quém, quém, quém, quém
Quém, quém, quém, quém
Quém, quém, quém, quém

O pato
O pato

O pato vinha cantando alegremente, quém
Quando um marreco sorridente pediu
Pra entrar também no samba, no samba, no samba
O ganso gostou da dupla e fez também quém, quém
Olhou pro cisne e disse assim "vem, vem"
Que o quarteto ficará bem, muito bom, muito bem
Na beira da lagoa foram ensaiar
Para começar o tico-tico no fubá
A voz do pato era mesmo um desacato
Jogo de cena com o ganso era mato
Mas eu gostei do final quando caíram n'água
Ensaiando o vocal

Quém, quém, quém, quém
Quém, quém, quém, quém
Quém, quém, quém, quém

Quém, quém, quém, quém
Quém, quém, quém, quém, o pato

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Eliane Elias's song O Pato paint a vivid picture of a group of birds - a duck, a goose, a swan, and a redhead duck - coming together to make music, with their rehearsals taking place by the side of a lake. The joy and playfulness of the lyrics are evident in the repetition of the sound "quém", meant to emulate the sounds made by the birds. The first verse establishes the scene, with the duck happily singing, and the cheerful redhead duck asking to join in. The goose, happy with the addition, invites the swan to complete their quartet. As they begin to practice the tico-tico no fubá, a Brazilian choro tune, the duck's loud voice creates some friction with the other birds. However, the scene ends on a humorous note as they all fall into the water while rehearsing their harmonious "quém" chant.

At its core, "O Pato" is a whimsical story of the power of music, bringing together even unlikely companions to enjoy the pleasure of playing together. The song blends playful sounds and joyful lyrics with the lively rhythm, all rooted in Brazilian culture. The lyrics accentuate the amusing dynamics of the various characters in the story, giving a vivid image of a group of birds coming together to create something unique and harmonious.

Line by Line Meaning

O pato vinha cantando alegremente, quém
The duck was singing cheerfully, quack

Quando um marreco sorridente pediu
When a smiling teal asked

Pra entrar também no samba, no samba, no samba
To also join in the samba, the samba, the samba

O ganso gostou da dupla e fez também quém, quém
The goose liked the duo and also went quack, quack

Olhou pro cisne e disse assim 'vem, vem'
He looked at the swan and said 'come, come'

Que o quarteto ficará bem, muito bom, muito bem
The quartet will be good, very good, very well

Na beira da lagoa foram ensaiar
They went to the edge of the lake to rehearse

Para começar o tico-tico no fubá
To start the tico-tico on the cornmeal

A voz do pato era mesmo um desacato
The duck's voice was quite unruly

Jogo de cena com o ganso era mato
The playfulness with the goose was abundant

Mas eu gostei do final quando caíram n'água
But I enjoyed the ending when they fell in the water