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Great Live Moments - Steps Ahead
April 9, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.
Add new comment | Filed under: bassist, debut album, don grolnick, drummer, eddie gomez, eliane elias, fusion, group steps, kool jazz festival, Listening Post, Live Music, michael brecker, peter erskine, pianist, saxophonist, solo effort, some heavy hitters, time steps, vibraphonist, wbgo
The group Steps Ahead came together in 1979, but their debut album did not arrive until 1983. By that time, Steps had created a potent form of fusion. WBGO recorded an early version of the band in the summer of 1982, during the now-defunct Kool Jazz Festival. Vibraphonist Mike Maineri (photographed above) was the leader, and the lineup included some heavy hitters - drummer Peter Erskine, bassist Eddie Gomez, pianist Don Grolnick, and saxophonist Michael Brecker. Brecker was already a star, even though he had not yet recorded a solo effort (and would not for nearly five more years...strange but true...). Steps Ahead became a group that people in and out of jazz noticed, and a lot of young talent got an early lift from being in the band
(pianist Eliane Elias comes to mind).
Check out Steps Ahead playing "Islands," from the WBGO Archives.
-Josh© 2008 WBGO
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Eliane Elias at J&R - Something For You
January 29, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.
Add new comment | Filed under: bassist, bill evans, billy hart, drummer, eliane elias, Listening Post, Live Music, marc johnson, musicEliane Elias and her trio - bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Billy Hart - played the music of Bill Evans at J&R, and we broadcast it live.
If you missed it, you can listen to some selections from the live concert here.
-JoshPS Some great Bill Evans quotes collected here.
© 2008 WBGO
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The elegance of Eliane Elias
January 18, 2008. Posted by .
Add new comment | Filed under: brain, café con leche, desk, Diversions, eliane elias, Encounters, good reason, gray matter, honey, Jazz Alive, jobim, Live Music, morning shift, newscasts, photograph, pianist, smooth man, speakers, special man
I rarely work the morning shift around here. 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. newscasts are Doug Doyle territory and for good reason. It takes a special man to get up at 3:30 a.m. and get here in time to deliver the news at 6 a.m., sharp. Frankly, I ain't that special, man. Those of you who've heard me at that time in the morning, know what I'm talking about.Still, when Doug's out, I get the call. One recent morning, however, I was sitting at my desk, staring blankly at my computer monitor, the written word failing me, when all of a sudden, dripping from the speakers behind me, like honey on a nubile neck, comes Eliane Elias singing Jobim's "Photograph (Fotografia)."The vocal, so lush and silken, insinuated itself into my soft gray matter and swirled around like the café in my café con leche. I closed my eyes and drank deeply, Eliane inside my brain. MMM. It's just about the only thing that went right that morning.
Eliane Elias is just smooth, man, (as both a singer and a pianist) so if you get a chance, I urge you to join us (yes, I'll be there) tomorrow at J&R Music's Park Row store (23 Park Row, NYC, Second Floor) for a FREE live performance and broadcast of some of the material from her new release "Something For You: Eliane Elias Sings and Plays Bill Evans."
The performance starts at 4 p.m. and, even if you're in Rio, Brasil, you can hear it live. - David Cruz
© 2008 WBGO








