International Music     Festival at the Kourion Theatre

Elian Elias

Pianist / singer / songwriter, Eliane Elias is known for her distinctive and immediately recognizable musical style which blends her Brazilian roots, instrumental jazz, classical and compositional skills. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Eliane Elias’ musical talents began to show at an early age. She started studying piano at age seven and at age twelve was transcribing solos from the great jazz masters. By the time she was fifteen she was teaching piano and improvisation at one of Brazil’ s most prestigious schools of music. Her performing career began in Brazil at age seventeen, working with Brazilian singer/songwriter Toquinho and the great poet Vinicius de Moraes who was also Antonio Carlos Jobim’s co-writer/lyricist. In 1981 she headed for New York.

Her first album release was a collaboration with Randy Brecker entitled Amanda in 1984. Shortly thereafter her solo career began, spanning over eighteen albums to date; fifteen on Blue Note Records and three on RCA Victor Group. In her work Elias has documented dozens of her own compositions, her outstanding piano playing and arranging, and beautiful vocal interpretations. All of her recordings have garnered a great deal of praise from the critics and all have topped the Billboard and Jazz Radio charts.

In 1988 she was voted Best New Talent by the jazz critics’ poll of JAZZIZ magazine.

Together with Herbie Hancock in their duet, she was nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Jazz Solo Performance” category for her 1995 release, “Solos and Duets” .This recording was hailed by Musician Magazine as “a landmark in piano duo history.”

In the 1997 Downbeat Readers Poll, her recording “The Three Americas” was voted Best Jazz Album.

Eliane Elias was named in five other categories:

Beyond Musician, Best Composer, Jazz Pianist, Female Vocalist, and Musician of the Year.

Considered one of the great interpreters of Jobim s music, Ms.Elias’ has been featured on many concert tributes to Jobim and recorded two albums solely dedicated to the works of the composer, Plays Jobim and Sings Jobim. “Eliane Elias Sings Jobim” won “Best Vocal Album” in Japan and was awarded ” Best Brazilian Album” in Jazziz Critics Poll.

“Calle 54″, the highly acclaimed documentary film by Oscar winning Spanish director Fernando Trueba, featuring Ms. Elias’ performance of Samba Triste also received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album.

DREAMER received the “Gold Disc Award “and won ‘Best Vocal Album in Japan” in 2004. It reached #1 on the Jazz Charts USA and France, #3 on the Pop Charts in France and #4 on the Billboard charts in the USA.

Ms. Elias just completed a new recording for Blue Note records. “Bossa Nova Stories” is a celebration to the 50th Anniversary of the Bossa Nova and features her vocals accompanied by a stellar rhythm section and strings recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Ms.Elias was featured in the Thelonious Monk Institute’s televised Second Annual “Celebration of America’s Music” at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, four times on Marion McPartland’s NPR ‘Piano Jazz”; the JVC Festival with Sting, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Caetano Veloso at Lincoln Center in New York, the televised Piano Grand, a Gala celebration for the 300th Anniversary of the piano in Washington DC. hosted by Billy Joel, and the BBC Jazz Orchestra to name a few.

                                      www.elianeelias.com