JAZZ REVIEW : Elias’ Promising Start to a Promising Week

The marvelously talented Brazilian pianist Eliane Elias returned Tuesday night for the start of what promises to be a bountiful week of contemporary jazz at the Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood.

Her opening set--despite recurring problems with a sound system that seemed determined to eliminate synthesizer keyboardist Rob Harris and bassist Lincoln Goines from the band--bristled with the high energy and passion that are intrinsic to Elias’ music.

Among the more attractive pieces were “So Far, So Close” (the title track of a new album, scheduled for release later this month), a briskly sensuous samba titled “At First Sight” and Elias’ ever-rocking “Cumpari & Soul.”

A high point of the set was a totally unplanned solo excursion through “All the Things You Are” that clearly identified Elias as an improviser with virtually unlimited horizons. Mixing long, arching lines with lush harmonic clusters, shifting into a slow, rhythmic left hand to support a stream of wildly soaring notes from her right hand, Elias managed to incorporate a good chunk of jazz piano history in one brief improvisation. It was a moment to remember.

There was, however, one disturbing thing about the Elias performance. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta--gifted though he may be as a fusion performer--was both out of control and overbearingly loud. His usually crisp drum sound was harsh and rattling, and he persistently obscured the subtleties of the music with a storm cloud of shakes, rattles and rolls. Colaiuta is too good a player, and Elias’ pieces are too deserving of better treatment, for such an approach to continue. One hopes it changes before the close of an otherwise state-of-the-art week of contemporary jazz.