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
Photograph
Eliane Elias Lyrics
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Alone here in this terrace by the sea
The sun is going down and in your eyes
I see the changing colors of the sea
It's time for you to go the day is done
And shadows stretch their arms to bring the night
The sun falls in the sea and down below
A window light we see
You and I, we two
Alone in this cafe with dimming lights
A full and rising moon comes from the sea
And soon the bar will close for you and me
But there will always be a song to tell
A story you and I cannot dismiss
The same old simple story of desire
And suddenly that kiss
Hm, that kiss
Hm
Eu, voce, nós dois
Sozinhos nesse bar à meia luz
E uma grande lua saiu do mar
Parece que este bar já vai fechar
E há sempre uma canção para contar
Aquela velha história de um desejo
Que todas as canções têm pra contar
E veio aquele beijo, aquele beijo
Hm, aquele
Aquele beijo
Hm
The lyrics of Eliane Elias's song Photograph depict a couple spending time together in two different locations: a terrace by the sea and a café with dimming lights. They watch the sunset and the changing colors of the sea, and then witness a rising moon. These natural phenomena reflect the passage of time and the fleeting nature of the moment shared by the couple. As the day turns into night, they realize that their time together is limited and that they must eventually part ways. Yet, they find comfort in the fact that they have shared a moment of desire and intimacy, represented by the "suddenly that kiss" mentioned in the final verse.
Overall, the song conveys a sense of nostalgia and romanticism, inviting the listener to imagine a similar scenario and reflect on the ephemerality of human experience. The lyrics suggest that even though people may come and go, memories and emotions can be preserved through art, such as a song or a photograph.
Line by Line Meaning
You and I, we two
We are the only ones present, just you and me
Alone here in this terrace by the sea
We are isolated and by ourselves on this terrace overlooking the ocean
The sun is going down and in your eyes
As the sun sets, I can see reflected in your eyes the changing colors of the sky and the sea
I see the changing colors of the sea
I can see how the sea is reflecting the colors of the sky as it changes
It's time for you to go the day is done
The day is ending, and it's time for you to leave
And shadows stretch their arms to bring the night
As night descends, the shadows grow longer and envelop us
The sun falls in the sea and down below
The sun sets, and we can see its reflection in the water below us
A window light we see
We can see a light shining through a window nearby
Just you and me
We are alone on this evening, with only each other's company
You and I, we two
Again, we are the only ones present
Alone in this cafe with dimming lights
We are secluded in a dimly lit café, with no one but us in sight
A full and rising moon comes from the sea
The moon is full and can be seen rising from the sea
And soon the bar will close for you and me
The café will be closing soon, signaling the end of our time together
But there will always be a song to tell
Even though our time together may be over, there will always be a song to remember it by
A story you and I cannot dismiss
Our story, the one that we've created together, cannot be ignored
The same old simple story of desire
It's a simple story of desire that is different for every couple
And suddenly that kiss
And then we kiss, which is the pinnacle of our story
Hm, that kiss
A reflection on how that kiss impacted us
Hm
An expression of reflection or thought about our time together
Writer(s): Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ray Gilbert
Contributed by Kaylee G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.