Eliane Elias reviewed
Eliane Elias
Around The City
(RCA Victor)
Brazil-born Eliane Elias likes an urban samba beat. While she doesn’t mirror the horrors in the cities back home, she does embody South American élan.
Around The City rather lamely includes a rote cover of “Oye Como Va,” but otherwise flows with a cosmopolitan spirit not unlike Bebel Gilberto’s. While Gilberto carries a diva-esque attitude, Elias is more likely to sit back and pay homage to Sade. “Jammin'” loads bossa nova with some serious sexual innuendo, the tempo drops out on “Save Your Love For Me” for a classic jazz ballad, and the reprise of “Segredos” lithely glides across the ballroom with a come-hither piano solo. Her only fault is a cool demeanor bordering on indifference, forgetting not just the feet on the ground but the heart in her chest.
— Steve Forstneger
