Eliane Elias - Made In Brazil

Eliane Elias Made in Brazil, marks a musical homecoming for the multi-GRAMMY®-nominated pianist/keyboardist/singer/composer. In her three-decade long career as a solo artist, Made in Brazil results from the first time she s recorded a disc in her native Brazil since moving to the United States in 1981.

Elias wears many hats on this project as producer, composer, lyricist, arranger, pianist and vocalist. "I am completely immersed and involved in every single detail of the music and the recording process, from the birth of an idea until its completion through every aspect of the production until it reaches the public," she explains.

Along with co-producers, Steve Rodby and Marc Johnson, her bass playing musical partner, Elias ventured home and recruited a splendid cast of Brazilian musicians that include electric bassist Marcelo Mariano; guitarists Marcus Teixeira and Roberto Menescal; drummers Edu Ribeiro and Rafael Barata; and percussionists Mauro Refosco and Marivaldo dos Santos.

Elias peppered the sessions with delightful special guest performances from Mark Kibble and the multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning gospel vocal group Take 6; her singer/songwriter-daughter Amanda Brecker; one of Brazil's most celebrated R&B stars, Ed Motta; and the distinguished bossa nova composer Roberto Menescal.

Elias also invited Rob Mathes to handle orchestral arrangements on seven of the 12 tracks, which were recorded in London at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. It's so touching to hear the music unfold," she says of the orchestral arrangements after they were overdubbed onto the Sao Paulo sessions. You can see the musical notes on paper, but it s something else to hear them realized and performed by members of the London Symphonic Orchestra.

In terms of material, Made in Brazil contains six Elias originals plus two Ary Barroso standards, two Roberto Menescal chestnuts, and two Antonio Carlos Jobim world-renowned gems. Elias, who did all the arrangements for the basic tracks, said that she purposely wanted Made in Brazil to incorporate three generations of Brazilian composers. But it s not a retro record, she clarifies. It's very contemporary yet with the tradition and authenticity of Brazil; it s music of the world with Brazilian DNA.