Swept Away Marc Johnson & Eliane Elias

• 1 Swept Away 06:18
• 2 It's Time 05:50
• 3 One Thousand and One Nights 08:16
• 4 When the Sun Comes Up 06:35
• 5 B Is for Butterfly 08:05
• 6 Midnight Blue 06:01
• 7 Moments 05:49
• 8 Sirens of Titan 05:53
• 9 Foujita 05:35
• 10 Inside Her Old Music Box 05:29
• 11 Shenandoah 04:34
• Total Runtime 01:08:25

Info for Swept Away

Swept Away sees the top-class quartet of pianist Eliane Elias, double bassist Marc Johnson, drummer Joey Baron and saxophonist Joe Lovano commune over music that is engaging and sensual, lyrical and swinging. Brazilian-born Elias previously joined ECM veterans Baron and Lovano on Johnson’s 2005 ECM album, Shades of Jade, which reaped praise far and wide. The New York Times enthused over the “luminescence” created by the close partnership between Elias and Johnson, while The Village Voice said the album was “shimmering” yet its “lusciousness has all sorts of tensile strength.” The same words suit Swept Away, which includes a brace of melody-rich Elias compositions, ranging from the easy-flowing title track to the smoky romanticism of “Be Is for Butterfly” and after-hours atmosphere of “It’s Time”. Johnson’s brightly grooving, Eastern-tinged “When the Sun Comes Up” is another highlight, and the album closes with Johnson’s solo bass treatment of the old American folk song “Shenandoah”. Swept Away is music of depth that is disarmingly easy to love.

Double bassist Marc Johnson, pianist Eliane Elias, drummer Joey Baron and saxophonist Joe Lovano commune in music-making that is engaging, sensuous, poetic, and swinging. There is also a spacious feel to “Swept Away” which stems from the environment in which much of it was written, the home Johnson and Elias share in the Hamptons, New York. “I’ve written music in the bustle of Manhattan, on airplanes, every hectic sort of place,” Elias says. “But we have a very different sort of relationship to sound out there, one that finds its way into the feel of the writing.” Johnson adds: “There is definitely a feeling of quietude and space there that is inspiring for us. Nature is closer, and you can really see the changing of seasons. I think you can hear it in the music’s openness and lyricism.”

The album emphasises melody-rich Elias compositions, ranging from the easy-flowing lyricism of “B Is for Butterfly” to the romanticism of “Moments” .Elias’s rocking, Eastern-tinged “One Thousand and One Nights” is a highlight, as is Johnson’s evocation of after-hours atmosphere, “Midnight Blue.” The album closes with the bassist’s solo treatment of the old American folk song “Shenandoah,” a poignant remembrance of his family from the Midwest.

On their own, Elias, Johnson and Baron constitute a working piano trio, having recorded together live and in the studio. Throughout the album, bassist and drummer demonstrate a kindred-spirit feel, the pair having known each other since the early ’80s. “Joey and I share a lot of the same references and rhythmic sensibilities,” Johnson says. “I love the impetus he gives the music, how swinging he is, how creative.” Marc points out that in “When the Sun Comes Up,” he anchors the quarter-note pulse while “it is Joey giving shape to the music, bobbing and weaving along with Lovano but never losing that beautiful sense of implied time.”

Lovano enters with the second track, the blue-hued, valedictory-feeling “It’s Time.” Elias’s tribute to the late Michael Brecker. The pianist played with Brecker at the start of her career, when she was a member of Steps Ahead, and he worked with her on several projects afterward.

Marc Johnson first met Lovano in the late-’70s Woody Herman band. “Joe has such a beautiful sound and is a consummate improviser, a player who is so quick to suss out the essence of a tune. He is amazing at portraying the character of a composition in his improvisations.” Elias adds: “As a composer, it’s very satisfying the way that Joe incorporates a melody of a piece into his improvisations and shapes it. And we had some special experiences playing on Shades of Jade and again on this album. On `Moments,’ he and I even improvised the same exact phrase at the same time, as if we were following a score.”

Eliane Elias, piano
Marc Johnson, double bass
Joey Baron, drums
Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone

Recorded February 2010 Avatar Studios, New York
Engineer: Joe Ferla
Assistant: Rick Kwan
Mixed by Joe Ferla
Assistant: Bret Mayer
Produced by Eliane Elias and Marc Johnson

Eliane Elias
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Elias’ musical talents began to show at an early age. She started studying piano at age seven and at age 12 was transcribing solos from the great jazz masters. By the time she was 15, she was teaching piano and improvisation at one of Brazil’s most prestigious schools of music, CLAM. Her performing career began in Brazil at age 17, 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 and in 1982 landed a spot in the acclaimed group Steps Ahead. Her first solo album release was a collaboration with Randy Brecker in 1984 entitled Amanda. Shortly thereafter her solo career began, spanning 28 albums to date with the release of Love Stories. In her work, Elias has documented dozens of her own compositions, her outstanding piano playing and arranging and beautiful vocal interpretations. She started winning polls in 1988 when she was voted Best New Talent in Jazziz magazine Critic’s Poll.

Together with Herbie Hancock, 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. Elias was also 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, Elias has recorded two albums solely dedicated to the works of the composer: Plays Jobim and Sings Jobim. Her 1998 release Eliane Elias Sings Jobim won Best Vocal Album in Japan, was the number one record on Japan’s charts for over three months and was awarded Best Brazilian Album in the Jazziz Critics Poll. Both of these albums are a part of Elias’ catalogue of fourteen Blue Note Records recordings.

Moreover, as a testament to the quality of her writing, the renowned Danish Radio Big Band has performed and recorded Elias’ compositions, arranged and conducted by the legendary Bob Brookmeyer. The CD recording of this project, entitled Impulsive, received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2001.That same year, Calle 54, the highly acclaimed documentary film by Oscar-winning Spanish director Fernando Trueba, featured Elias’ performance of “Samba Triste” and also received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album.

On the Classical Side, recorded in 1993, demonstrated Elias’ classical skills with a program of Bach, Ravel and Villa Lobos. In 2002, Elias recorded with opera sensation Denyce Graves. For this recording, The Lost Days, she arranged two Brazilian classical pieces and wrote an original classical composition especially for Graves titled “Haabiá-Tupi.”

In 2002, Elias signed to the RCA Music Group/Bluebird label and released Kissed by Nature, an album consisting of mostly original compositions. Dreamer, her second recording for the label (released in 2004), was a fresh mix of tunes from the Great American Songbook, Brazilian bossa novas and two new originals, sung in English and Portuguese and supported by a full orchestra. Dreamer received the Gold Disc Award and was voted Best Vocal Album in Japan. It reached number 3 on the pop charts in France and number 4 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. Elias’ Around the City, released on RCA Victor in 2006, merges bits of bossa nova with shades of pop, jazz, Latin and even rock ’n’ roll. Around the City features Elias’ vocals and songwriting in collaborations with producers Andres Levin and Lester Mendez, as well as fresh takes on pop classics such as Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va” and Bob Marley’s “Jammin’.” Elias returned to Blue Note/EMI in 2007 with Something for You, a tribute to the music of pianist Bill Evans. While touching the essence of the pianist/composer, she also brings her own unique gifts to the surface, as a composer, interpreter, outstanding instrumentalist and beguiling vocalist. This release won Best Vocal Album of the Year and the Gold Disc Award in Japan. This is also the third consecutive recording of Elias to receive these awards and her fourth overall. Something for You reached number 1 on the U.S. Jazz Radio charts, number 8 on Billboard and number 2 on the French jazz charts.

2008 marked the 50th anniversary of the birth of bossa nova. In celebration of this event, Elias recorded Bossa Nova Stories, featuring some of the landmark songs of Brazil with American classic and pop standards, exquisitely performed as only she can, with lush romantic vocals and exciting playing accompanied by a top-notch rhythm section and strings recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Destined to become a classic, Bossa Nova Stories achieved the following: number 1 on the French charts (2008), number 1 Vocal Album from Swing Journal in Japan (May-June 2008), number 1 iTunes Top Jazz Album (January 2009), number iTunes Top Latin Album (January 2009) and number 2 debut on Billboard’s Overall and Top Jazz Charts (January 2009). Bossa Nova Stories was also nominated by the Brazilian GRAMMYs (20th Prêmio da Música Brasileira, 2009) for Best Foreign Album.

In 2010, Blue Note Records and EMI Japan released Eliane Elias Plays Live, an all-instrumental trio album with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron of a live concert recorded in Amsterdam on May 31, 2002. This performance demonstrates modern jazz trio playing at the highest level and spotlights Elias’ inventiveness and command of the instrument on a collection of jazz standards and one original.

Light My Fire, released May 31, 2011, was the first album she recorded for Concord Records. It featured four compositions by Elias as well as covers of familiar works by songwriters as diverse as Jim Morrison and the Doors, pop icon Stevie Wonder and jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond. Backing Elias was a crew of 12 high-caliber players, including Brazilian icon, guitarist/vocalist Gilberto Gil and trumpeter Randy Brecker. On Light My Fire, Elias wore many hats—as singer, pianist, composer, arranger and producer. In September 2011, her song “What About the Heart (Bate Bate)” was nominated for a Latin GRAMMY® in the category of Best Brazilian Song.

On May 28, 2013, Concord Jazz presented Elias’ I Thought About You (A Tribute to Chet Baker), an album that offered her personalized spin on the work of a key American jazz artist while spotlighting her connection to the singer-instrumentalist tradition.

Long known for her native feel of Brazilian music, I Thought About You truly confirmed Elias’ expertise as an interpreter of American standards. In addition to receiving glowing critical praise, I Thought About You reached number 1 album in the U.S. and France in sales on Amazon.com, number 2 on iTunes in several countries including the U.S., France and Brazil, number 4 on Billboard’s jazz charts and top jazz radio charts.

Made in Brazil, released on March 31, 2015, on Concord Jazz, brought Elias her first GRAMMY® win in the category of Best Latin Jazz Album in 2016, after seven previous GRAMMY® nominations. In her long career as a solo artist, it results from the first time she’s recorded a disc in her native Brazil since moving to the United States in 1981.

It marked a musical homecoming for Elias. Her following album, Dance of Time, which debuted at number 1 on two Billboard charts, the iTunes Jazz Albums chart and the Amazon.com Brazilian and Latin Jazz charts, was also recorded in Elias’ homeland and took home a Latin GRAMMY® for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album.

On April 13, 2018, Elias followed up those wins with the all-instrumental Music from Man of La Mancha, also via Concord Jazz. Featuring nine individualized interpretations of songs composed by the late Mitch Leigh for the legendary 1960s Broadway musical Man of La Mancha, it was a project Elias undertook in 1995 that was waiting for it’s release having been stymied by past contractual issues.

Leigh himself tracked down Elias after hearing her ingenius arrangements of Jobim’s music and commissioned her to arrange and produce the recording. Honored by the offer, she accepted and recruited two different all-star trios — one featuring bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette and the other Marc Johnson on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums, with Manolo Badrena joining on percussion. This album also reached the #1 position on the Billboard Jazz Charts and on iTunes in several countries.

In review of Elias’ unique gifts as a pianist, singer, composer and arranger as well as melding her immense talents in jazz, pop, classical and Brazilian music, the New York Times has described Elias’ live concert as “a celebration of the vitality of a culture overflowing with life and natural beauty” and Jazziz magazine has called her, “a citizen of the world” and “an artist beyond category.”

Elias’ intoxicating vocals emote the ambient calm of a forest after a soft rain; her vibrancy is a force unto itself. With powerful artistry, her naturally prodigious talent is even stronger as the years pass—a feat capable only by the true elites of the musical world.” ***** – DownBeat

“Love Stories is both substantial and relatable. The mood it creates and the place it takes you to are like a vacation you wish would never end.” ****1/2 – All About Jazz

“Eliane Elias is one of the queens of making the most out of less as she keeps it soft, simple and sotto on this orchestral album tribute to the classic summit meeting between Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim…Songs and moods that are tall, tan, young and lovely.” – Jazz Weekly

“The Brazilian pianist and singer Eliane Elias commands the keyboard with a forceful two-handed muscularity that belies her image as a blond older sister of the mythical Girl From Ipanema. The more percussive her pianism becomes, the more she opens up a song and reimagines it in what might be called a romantic carnival groove.” – The New York Times

“… what distinguishes Elias as one of today’s leading bossa nova interpreters is her superb musicianship, the way she floats above the rhythm and meshes her vocals with her robust jazz piano accompaniment. *****” – Associated Press

“Elias’ strength’s as a jazz artist, combined with her roots in São Paulo, make her one of the most impressive interpreters of jazz-linked bossa novas, sambas and choros…” – Los Angeles Times

“Eliane Elias is of a generation of aggressive pianists who attack music like a lioness attacking its prey, at the same time expressing a tenderness within the core of her passion that at times has brought me to tears.” – Herbie Hancock

Booklet for Swept Away