While her discography dates back more than 40 years, Eliane Elias is best experienced live in front of an audience. And that’s just how you’ll find her on her latest recording, Ao Vivo, leading her quartet at the SFJAZZ Center’s Miner Auditorium in October 2023. “We stretch out more on stage,” says the pianist and vocalist, who proceeds to do just that during a program spotlighting deeply ingrained Brazilian and Afro-Cuban roots. The set, which is heard in sequence as the quartet performed it, features classics by bossa giants Ary Barroso, Roberto Menescal, Dori Caymmi, and of course, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius Moraes, and pulls tunes from across Elias’ 30-plus recordings. The leader’s piano truly shines on an instrumental read of her composition “At First Sight,” which she would go on to perform with vocals on her 2024 release Time and Again. And while her sultry, sophisticated singing features elsewhere on the live recording, here she revels in the sprightly melody, her sparkling piano cresting waves of rhythm expertly supplied by bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Rafael Barata. As the title promises, the trio evokes the exuberance of falling madly, impulsively in love — even when Elias dips into the bluesy notes — which is echoed by guitarist Leandro Pellegrino’s joyful solo. Even clocking in at more than seven minutes, the performance leaves listeners wanting more. “The intention has always been to hold the audience and keep them uplifted throughout the concert,” Elias says, “so that in the 90 minutes they’re with us, it’s like nothing else exists.”
