Eliane Elias – I Thought About You

What do you get when a hot pianist and vocalist pays tribute to a cool jazz trumpeter? Tha shiznit. That’s right. Sexy Brazilian Eliane Elias swings hard, drops some mean blues notes and adds some bossa-nova flavors to Chet Baker’s classics on her latest I Thought About You.

The album kicks off with a savory, mid-tempo swing on the title track and Elias’s bluesy licks are just stunning. “There Will Never Be Another You” continues with a striking balance between bossa-nova and up-tempo swing, in which Randy Brecker recreates some of that intoxicating trumpet lines from Baker. The rhythm continues to drive on “This Can’t Be Love” with Marc Johnson holding down the hypnotic bass lines.

Even though Elias is quite a sensational vocalist, her singing takes a backseat to her piano chops. On the slow “Embraceable You,” which set in an elegant Latin rhythm, her keyboard drives her voice more than complementing it. She’s all about the groove, which makes I Thought About You quite an exciting listening experience. Would love to see her live one day.