Eliane Elias: Brazilian Queen

I went to the Enwave Theatre at Harbourfront on Wednesday night to see Brazilian singer and pianist Eliane Elias for the first time. The theatre was already packed when I walked in ten minutes before showtime. My friend and I found seats in the middle of the top row, the perfect place to see the entire stage.

Guitarist Rubens de la Corte, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Mark Walker played a beautiful introduction for the Grammy-nominee, who walked out onstage in a deep V-neck black dress and gorgeous four-inch heels and was greeted with warm applause. I was in awe.

Elias has a unique voice, with a smooth sultry sound that is irresistible and engaging; she made playing the piano look easy. During the entire concert, she danced in her seat as she played; whether she was rocking back and forth with closed eyes, or watching the audience and her bandmates, her fingers knew exactly where to go and what rhythms to make.

It looked like Elias thoroughly enjoyed the evening. She encouraged her musicians and clapped after each of their solos. What made the experience even more compelling was the way in which she engaged the audience. In between songs, she spoke of her Brazilian roots, of the history of her songs, and of the Brazilian songwriters featured on her CDs. The audience was clearly familiar with her repertoire and responded to every name and every song title. From the top row, I could see heads bobbing throughout the entire concert. It was a sea of movement, swaying to her samba and bossa nova rhythms.

In order to leave a memorable mark with the last song of the concert, Elias began with a bossa nova rhythm, calling on de la Corte for an introduction before the band joined in. A few choruses along, de la Corte stopped playing and left the stage, allowing Eliane and Johnson, in turn, to take over. Then the music changed — out with the Brazilian, and in with bebop! Walker played a rhythm on the ride cymbal, Johnson kept a steady beat on the bass, and Elias began improvising. As the concert to that point had been entirely of Brazilian music, this change was entirely unexpected.

Soon after, with Johnson using a bow to play the melody and Elias and Walker accompanying, the trio effectively turned into a classical ensemble for a passage that revealed the depth of the pianist’s art. These few choruses became one of the most intriguing parts of the entire concert.

The song moved back into a bossa nova rhythm, and its focus shifted to percussion, and to Walker, who proved to be was a true show stealer, his musical chemistry with Elias phenomenal. Throughout the concert, the audience had seen flashes of his technical skill, as almost every song had ended with a four-bar drum solo. In this last piece, however, Walker let the music explode. I’ve heard drum solos by rock musicians, and on djembes, congas, tablas and the Indian dhol, all by international performers, but this drum solo made my jaw drop.

Walker used at least four different types of drumsticks, as well as brushes and his hands, playing on every imaginable part of his drum set, not just the snare, tom toms and hi-hat, but also the shells and hoops, and the underside of the cymbals. I didn’t want him to stop; rather, I wanted to start dancing in the aisles. My eyes were riveted on him as his hands flew across the set, creating complicated interplay with the bass drum and sending Latin rhythms pulsating out into the audience. Never in my life have I felt such a desire to dance solely to the sound of a drum.

But all good things must come to a close. What felt like half an hour was actually two, and after two encores, the audience rushed out into the lobby for an autograph session with Elias. By far, this concert was the most interactive and energetic jazz performance I’ve ever attended.