Brazilian-born pianist/vocalist
Eliane Elias continues her run of well-executed sessions for the Concord label with 2019's lush and sultry
Love Stories. The album follows up
Elias' Grammy-winning 2017 date
Dance of Time and arrives a year after she issued her long-delayed
Music from Man of La Mancha. Once again,
Elias is joined here by the same group that made
Dance of Time, including her husband bassist
Marc Johnson, drummer
Ed Ribeiro, guitarist Marcus Teixeira, and others. Also on board is arranger
Rob Mathes, who previously worked with
Elias on her equally sumptuous 2015 album
Made in Brasil and who has collaborated with an array of artists from across genres including
Sting,
Luciano Pavarotti,
Panic! At the Disco, and many more. Together,
Elias and
Mathes bring their varied experiences to bear on a set of romantic ballads and breezy pop anthems. At the core of each arrangement is
Elias' delicate, naturalistic vocals that recall such iconic Brazilian artists as
Astrud Gilberto,
Antônio Carlos Jobim, and
Nara Leão. Helping set the album's romantic tone,
Elias opens with a languid rendition of "A Man and a Woman," the classic theme to the 1966 French film of the same name. She then eases into an inventive reworking of the
Roger Ingram and
Patti Austin hit "Baby Come to Me," moving from a loungey verse into a propulsive bossa nova-accented chorus. Similarly engaging is her laid-back, Portuguese and English reading of
Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Bôscoli's "Little Boat,' which also spotlights her pristinely melodic jazz piano skills. Elsewhere, she offers urbane takes on standards like "Angel Eyes" and "Come Fly with Me," as well as several of her own atmospheric originals. ~ Matt Collar