Less than a month after the release of her "Everything I Love" album -- largely instrumental jazz standards speckled with a few originals -- Brazilian-born and New York-based pianist-composer Eliane Elias will touch down in Salt Lake City for the next installment of "Jazz at the Hilton."
The concert is Monday at 7:30.Currently, Eliane (pronounced El-ee-ahn-ee) is what she describes as "kind of" on tour. She has also been playing at a piano gala at the Smithsonian and recording music for a documentary on Latin music.
Eliane is a rare breed of musician, one who can balance her love of jazz, Brazilian and classical music simultaneously, having released multiple albums in all three genres.
Raised in a home where jazz records were played constantly, and by a mother who was a classical pianist, jazz seemed the natural way for Eliane to go with her love of music.
"I was so young, it's hard to say what got me started with jazz, but I felt it in my heart and in my soul," Eliane said in a telephone conversation from her New York home.
"As a young child, at 10, I was hearing Art Tatum and Bud Powell, and sometimes things were so swinging, they would get the tears out of me. I fell in love with it and wanted to play what they were playing."
On Eliane's newest venture, she's back in one of her favorite settings, the piano trio, playing alternately with bassists Marc Johnson and Christian McBride and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Carl Allen.
"What I wanted to get between was the communication of musicians and where it leads to. It's more about playing straight ahead and capturing the moment of creation; less preproduction work and more of 'the moment.' "
Largely an instrumental player/composer, Eliane has only recently started to utilize her voice more, which has led to comparisons to both Astrud Gilberto and Billie Holiday. When she first decided to sing the song, "Don't Ever Go Away," on "Plays Jobim," her first tribute album to the late Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, audiences raved about her voice, wanting an entire album focused solely on her singing. That came with 1998's "Sings Jobim." But it still wasn't enough. Now they want her to sing on every album she does.
Though the musician foresees a lot for her future -- including some pieces she is composing for the EMI Classics label and possibly delving into some orchestral work -- Eliane's heart is in the piano trio, where it will most likely remain.
"This is what I love to do. I want to continue with the trio. I'll just do other things in between."
Tickets are available at Holladay Pharmacy or by calling 801-278-0411.