Search - Eliane Elias :: So Far So Close

Canned Jazz

Jinkyu | 01/09/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Eliane put out this 1989 CD on Blue Note following her first two efforts, which were on the Denon label. She switched to predominantly synthesizer here from acoustic piano, and the results were not so stellar. She penned all the songs save the finale, written by Alan Palanker, who did its synthesizer programming. There is no singing; the vocals, like the horns, appear on only three tracks and amount to merely some unremarkable harmonies.



The music unfortunately smacks of mediocrity as the synthesizer sets the tone for a bland electronic sound. The horn work supplied by the Brecker brothers is also uninteresting, in contrast to some of their work on other CDs. The songs are unimaginative, sticking to limited structures rather than taking off with that extra spark or improvisation that makes good jazz. Further, they sound much the same; indeed, the title cut and "Bluestone" use the same motif. I give this CD a grudging 3 stars because of the worksmanship, for it clearly is competent, listenable jazz and Eliane's acoustic piano has a few brief moments, but it nearly got 2. Say 2 1/2. I recommend instead looking at Eliane's work in the 2000s, most notably, "Kissed by Nature," "Dreamer," and "Around the City"; for Brazilian and bossa nova, I recommend "Fantasia" and "The Threee Americas," from the 1990s.

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