Elis Furacão

(This is a slightly updated version of an article I published in 2003, on a website called "MrLucky.com."  That website seems not to exist now, or at least I'm not able to find it by an internet search.)


Hers was the voice of Brazil:  the irresistible rhythms, the insistently memorable yet subtle melodies, the harmonious blending of the native, the African, and the European that spans the very best in American culture.  She could transcend language to reach recesses of the heart impenetrable to words.  According to her great contemporary, Antonio Carlos Jobim, "She could change in a song; suddenly she was was water, wine, cachaça.  She had complete command of her body and soul."

In Brazil, where she was variously known as Pimentinha (Little Pepper) and  Furacão (Hurricane), she wears still the aura of sainthood, but in North America Elis Regina remains Brazil's best -kept secret almost forty years after her death.  The quality of her recordings guarantees that she someday will be heard here, too, as she was discovered in Europe and in Japan during her lifetime.  When she finally does get that opportunity, some listeners will be reminded of Sarah Vaughan, others of Dinah Washington or Patsy Cline or even Janis Joplin, though of course, she would never be mistaken for any of them.  There seemed to be no song, no style, she could not make her own, and she did just that with hundreds of performances on stage and in studio.

Elis Regina Carvalho Costa was born on March 17, 1945, in Porto Allegro, in Brazil's southernmost province.  She was the daughter of poor parents-- the house she grew up in had a dirt floor-- and she brought with her always the attitude of an outsider, a gaucha, as the Cariocas of Rio de Janiero pejoratively tagged their countrymen from the south.  Her entry into show business at the age of seven, a local radio singing contest, was not an auspicious one; Elis was unable to summon a syllable when her turn came to sing into the microphone, and she ran away in tears.  Five years later, however,  at the same radio contest she delivered an electrifying performance and began entertaining local audiences.  She had her first recording contract at the age of fifteen, and by 1965 had relocated to Rio and taken Brazil by storm.  Yet even to the end of her career she was haunted by insecurities about her origins.  At her triumphant 1979 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Elis was overcome by a sudden onrush of tears and nearly blinded by her mascara.  "I remembered that I was the daughter of a cleaning lady," she recalled.  "What was I doing on that stage?"

"Como Nossos Pais"

A popular television variety show cemented Elis's supremacy among Brazilian entertainers in the mid-1060s, a highly volatile period politically and culturally.  A military junta seized control of the country soon after the singer had arrived in Rio de Janeiro, and it soon used its instruments of repression against artists and intellectuals, forcing many into jail or exile.  At the same time, popular music in Brazil, as in most of the world, was undergoing a profound revaluation, a transition from older styles and bossa nova to what would be known as MPB (música popular brasileira)-- Brazilian Popular Music.  Elis Regina, on her European tour in 1969. angered her country's dictators by calling them "gorillas."  She was also among the first mainstream entertainers to champion the works of the up-and-coming generation of Brazilian songwriters, including many of the dissident "tropicálistas" whose songs had been banned officially:  Edu Lobo, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso,     Milton Nascimento, João Bosco, Ivan Lins, Joyce, Rita Lee, and scores of others whose names are now synonymous with the very best in Brazilian pop.  At the same time, she was probably the finest--and most loyal-- interpreter of the music of  Antônio Carlos Jobim, whose international success and subsequent residence abroad were shrilly derided by his critics at home.

"O Bebado e a Equilibrista"

Overview

Images

The 1970s represented the apex of Elis Regina's career as a recording artist and concert attraction.  The late years seemed to carry her into ever-newer and more challenging material.  Her annual tours grew into extravaganzas with multiple orchestras, mixed choruses, and dancers.  The voice itself continued to explore, to dance very near the flame.  Her final recordings at the turn of the decade, perhaps influenced by the drugs that were to take her life, could be described as incandescent, as if she were aware of the little time she had left.  Elis died alone in her bedroom in Sao Paulo, aged 36 and the mother of three, on January 19, 1982, wearing a t-shirt she had been officially forbidden to wear on a recent tour:  it was the flag of Brazil, with her name in place of "Ordem E Progresso."  Her body was waked by all of Brazil's artistic community, and her death and funeral were headline news throughout the country.  But perhaps the greater shock came two weeks later, when the cause of her death was determined to be an accidental combination of alcohol and cocaine, an addiction of which not even Elis's closest friends were aware.  All of Brazil mourned her loss, the loss of her voice transcendent and triumphant.

Perhaps their loss-- and ours-- might best be expressed in the words of one of her songs, "Samba de Pergunta"  ("Question Samba") by Marcos Vasconcellos.  Where is the voice of intimacy, the voice of saudade?

She now lives in our thoughts or in the sky,

In all that travels in the heavens.

She might be an astronaut or maybe a little bird,

Or maybe a whirlwind, or maybe a silk paper kite, or maybe a toy balloon.

She could be on an asteroid or in the morning star you see from here, or she might be           living on Mars.

We never heard about her any more, She disappeared.

"Alo, Alo, Marciano"

THE RECORDINGS

First-time listeners to Elis Regina are to be envied.  Many may wish to start with one of the excellent compilations that are available.  The recordings, in their manner of production, fall chronologically into two groups:  those recorded up through 1971 feature primarily acoustic instrumentation, while those produced later (in partnership with Mariano, for the most part) turn on the juice.  A Arte de Elis Regina (Philips/ Polygram) is an excellent representation of early (1965-1973) material recorded by the label that documented most of the singer's carer.  Fascinação, also widely available, presents many highlights from the middle-to-late portion of her career.  Among the many fine Brazilian compilations, one of the most comprehensive is  Sem Limite, a particularly well-chosen two-disc collection.  More recently there has appeared a double set, 20 Anos de Saudade, which collects rarities: singles, contributions to festival anthologies, a live recording from Paris, even a duet with soccer star Pelé.  There is no reason such a collection should work well as a listening experience, but this one is simply wonderful.  The Warner Bros. material (1979-1980), while also available in many compilations, is probably best enjoyed in its original album format (see below).

• Elis Regina, Original Album Series (Warner Music Brasil, 2013)

This is a massive compilation of Elis's Warner recordings, over a period of about two years.  The singer was in peak form, and Mariano's arrangements sound as contemporary today as they did at the time they were made.  The set's only shortcoming is its failure to include all of the live recordings from the 1979 Montreux Jazz Festival; instead, the compilers opted to include Elis por Ela, a compilation that include some of the Montreux material but is otherwise a repetition of the other four albums in the set.

On the earliest recordings, done in her teens for the Continental and Columbia labels, while Elis acquits herself with aplomb and even bravado, the tunes are preponderantly directed at a young market, and many suffer beneath doggy arrangements.  However, the remaining thirty-odd Elis Regina recordings are nearly all in print and all a premiers pleasure to hear.  Following her aforesaid recording apprenticeship, recorded prolifically for Polygram Brazil and its affiliated labels, which have reissued her albums many times.  Unless otherwise stated, these recommended albums all appear under that imprint.

Dois Na Bossa (1965-1967), actually three separate recordings issued a year apart, features Elis at the first rush of her celebrity, along with singing partner Jair Rodrigues in stage performances before live audiences and backed by lively bossa-jazz groups.  The first volume features Elis Regina's first huge hit, Edu Lobo's politically-charged "Arrastão"; all three discs feature extended medleys and a cross-section of the emergent MPB of the '60s.

Elis (1966) is a landmark collage of the incipient Tropicalistas.  Included are early masterpieces written by the likes of Gil ("Roda"), Lobo (the perennial "Pra Dizer Adeus"), Chico Buarque ("Tem Mais Samba'), Veloso ("Boa Palavra"), along with newcomer Nascimento's "Canção do Sal" and a nostalgic, choro rendition of the legendary Pixinguinha's "Carinhoso."

"O Bebado e A Equilibrista"

One of her jazziest sets, Como e Porque (1969) finds Elis ever the seeker after new modes of expression:  on Lobo's wordless "Casa Forte" she accompanies her own overdubbed lead to stunning effect, while she scat-duets with flute and trumpet on Antonio Randolfo's "Giro."  Here can be found probably the definitive performance of Baden Powell's "Canto de Ossanha."  Also included are her first rendition of Ary Barroso's "Aquarela do Brasil," the most famous Brazilian anthem before the dawn of bossa nova, and, of course, the valedictory "Samba da Pergunta."

  All right,  so Polygram wasn't very creative when it came to titling her albums;  Elis, the title of three straight releases, in 1972, 1973, and 1974, nevertheless collectively represents the first flowering of her musical partnership with husband Cesar Mariano.
Together, they offer some of Elis Regina's most treasured recordings, many of them written by stalwarts Gil ("Oriente,""Meio de Campo") and Nascimento (the incredible "Cais" and still more incredible "Ponta de Areia").  They also introduce Elis to a songwriting team that would be among her favorites for the decade to come, Joao Bosco and Aldir Blanc ("Dois Pra Lá, Dois Pra Cá," and the anthemic "O Mestre-Sala dos Mares").  Mariano's musical settings, from intimate jazz trios to large orchestra

s, are ingenious without being intrusive and serve the star performer well.

Dois Pra Lá, Dois Pra Cá

A chance vacation given Elis by her record company resulted in a Los Angeles studio encounter with icon Antonio Carlos ("Tom") Jobim; Elis & Tom (1974) remains one of the finest recordings made by either artist.  As befit the bossa nova style, Elis gave a relatively restrained performance, while Jobim allowed a modicum of electricity in many of the arrangements.  An album of great sensitivity, this unique collaboration offers a wonderful range of styles and textures.  Highlights include bold reworking of "Retreat em Branco e Preto" and "Fotographia," the joyful "Chovendo na Roseira" (better known here as "Double Rainbow"), and the two singers' blithe interplay through "Águas de Março," one of Jobim's last great hits.

Falso Brilhante (1976) features studio versions from Elis's great international touring extravaganza of the mid-'70s, alas much abbreviated.  Video clips of her stage performances show her singing more than credibly in French and Italian and doing an impression of Carmen Miranda in that diva's famous habitude, none of which appears on this disc.  What remains is an odd, though truly brilliant, assemblage of stark protest ballads (in Spanish), experimental pop, and flat-out rock'n'roll.  The album's centerpiece, a Portuguese version of the omnipresent "Fascination," absolutely belongs to Elis.

Elis Regina's two studio albums for Warner Bros. are both essential.  Essa Mulher (1979) contains "O Bêbado e a Equilibrista," still one of the songs most widely associated with her, and there is a remarkable duet with one of her earliest stylistic models, Cauby Peixoto, on the sultry  "O Bolero de Satã."  Saudades Do Brasil (1980), a complete studio version on two discs of Elis's show of the same name, is perhaps the apotheosis of Cesar Mariano's production art.  The sequence of the show, following a thrilling fanfare and "Terra de Ninguém," Elis's old television theme, suggests the story of Brazil, past, present, and future.  Highlights include no fewer than five new anthems by Milton Nascimento, a radical reinterpretation of "Aquarela do Brasil" with native chants and African drums, and a remarkable performance of Jobim's "Sabiá" sung to Mariano's intimate piano accompaniment.

Saudade do Brasil

The "live" albums deserve special consideration for Elis's daring to explore, even beyond the perfection of her studio work.  In the three volumes of No Fino Da Bossa (Velas, 1965-67; issued 1994) one is struck by the on-stage poise she displays, even at the age of twenty, among such luminaries as Ciro Monteiro, Baden Powell, and Adoniran Barbosa.  Elis ao Vivo (Velas, 1977; issued 1995) shows her, though seven months pregnant*, in full command of an extraordinary repertoire amid star musicians Ivan Lins, Renato Teixeira, and others.  Transversal do Tempo (1978) presents tasty excerpts from the tour that succeeded Falso Brillhante, including memorable versions of Barbosa's "Saudosa Maloca," a medley of two of Chico Buarque's compositions, and an amusing take on bossa nova, "Querelas do Brasil."  Elis Vive (Warner, 1979; issued 1998) and Elis Live in Montreux (Warner Bros. 1979; issued 1982) feature Elis with Mariano's small band; the latter also includes a set-closing duet with Hermeto Pascoal, which incorporates an hilarious send-up of "The Girl from Ipanema."  Trem Azul (Som Livre/ Gala, 1981; issued 1982) documents one of Elis's last public performances.  Though the sound quality is not up to that of some of the others, this disc demonstrates best, perhaps, the mesmerizing effect Elis Regina could have upon an audience.

*The daughter born of this pregnancy was Maria Rita, who today is herself one of Brazil's most popular and admired singers.


While not many Elis Regina CDs are currently available in most North American stores, it is fairly easy to buy them on the internet.  Dusty Groove Records  is a great first-call source.  A detailed biography of the singer is available on the Celebrating Elis! blog page, and an extensive photo gallery may also be searched.  "Joe Sixpack" offers entertaining album reviews of Elis and many other Brazilian artist.  Finally, a biopic trailer for a  2010 movie about the singer is also on view.

...and in brief:

• Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra, All My Yesterdays:  The Debut 1966 Recordings at the Village Vanguard (Resonance, 2016)

This release marks the beginning of the Jones/ Lewis Orchestra's long tenure at New York's village Vanguard.  The band is cut from the Basie mold (not surprising, as Thad had been an important, long-time  contributor to Basie's Band.  inclusion of a rhythm guitar reinforces this impression; the rhythm section resembles the perennial four-man team perfected by Count.  The band's core sextet consists of Thad Jones, trumpet and fluegelhorn; Hank Jones, piano; Sam Herman, guitar and percussion; Richard Davis,bass; and Mel Lewis, drums.

This core is augmented by saxes Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Joe Farrell, Eddie Daniels, and either Marv "Doc" Holladay or Pepper Adams on bari.  trumpets Snooky Young, Jimmy Nottingham, Bill Berry, Jimmy Owens, Danny Stiles.  trombones Bob Brookmeyer, Garnett Brown, Cliff Heather, Jack Rains, and Tom McIntosh.

thirteen tunes are played over the course of two concerts, all by Thad, except for three standards and one Hank Jones original.

this band is distinguished by its instrumentation, which includes the liberal use of flutes and clarinets.

the recording quality is about as fine as it could be.

the big flag-wavers on the program:  "Once Around," Hank's "Ah, That's Freedom," "Back Bone," "The Little Pixie."

thick booklet with several takes on the band and its history. 

*

• Max Roach, Complete 1958-1959 "Plus Four" Sessions (Jazz Coonnections, 2009)

booklet includes the original lines notes to the six LPs, plus a helpful, two-part essay on Max and these recordings.

set comprises Max on the Chicago Scene, Newport Jazz Festival 1958, Deeds, Not Words; Booker Little 4 $ Max Roach, The Many Sides of Max Roach.

• Richard Cook and Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Records, 9th edition (2008)

Expound upon such guides (compare Jazz on Record, 196?):  pluses:  It pleases me to have such a large compendium of info, even as I listen.  I don't mind authors' opinions that diverge from mine, no matter how inane they are.

minuses:  As recordings go out of print, they give up their listings in subsequent editions; authors should include them, even if it becomes necessary to issue the series in two volumes.  (BTW, the series, now edited by Cook alone, has taken a different format, the details of which I am unaware.)  To save space, it would be preferable to eliminate releases the authors detest, or to pay them the minimal amount of attention.  Star-rating system is tacky, all the more so with the "Core Collection" and "crown" designations.  Just discuss the recordings and let the readers award the stars: your taste is no better than mine, and vice versa.

• Charlie Parker, The Complete Live Performances on Savoy" (Savoy Jazz, 1947-'48, 1950)

• Solo Monk (Sony/ Columbia, 1963?)

Reminiscences of the '60s, when I first acquired the LP (a British Colombia release with an orange label; it contained the two extra tunes ("Introspection" and "Darn That Dream") the CD notes falsely claim that this CD irepresents their first-ever release).  These performances were my first hearing of a great many tunes, not only Monk's own, but also the standards which constitute the majority of the release, nine all together, such wonderful old-time warhorses as "I'm Confessin'," "Sweet and Lovely," "Dinah," "Everything Happens to Me," and on and on.  An important part of my education as a listener.

• Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster:  The Complete Session (Essential Jazz Classics, 1957)

A 2009 release that expands the original Verve collection considerably.  The original has for a very long time been among my creme de la creme.  A permanent resident in the Elantra Collection.

• Charlie Parker on Dial, Vols. 1-6 (Spotlite, 1946-1947).  The 1975 vinyl release that turned my world upside down.  Again, a great stepping-forward in my education when I was still in my twenties, bought separately wherever I could find them.  I've gone back to listen again, partly because their fairly recent CD rerelease does not present the sessions just as they unfolded, rather than setting aside the master takes by themselves, and only then include the alternate takes in session order.  (So annoying to me, in fact, that I burned them to CDR in the correct sequence.)  Notes on individual sides:

Volume Two, Side 2:  the non-vocal portion of the Feb. 1947 quartet session, with Erroll Garner, Red Callender, and Doc West.  Three takes of "Bird's Nest"  and four of "Cool Blues."

Our Car Club 

•  Kenny Dorham, Jazz Contemporary (Time, 1961) with Charles Davis, Steve Kuhn, Jimmy Garrison/ Butch Warren, Buddy Enlow

3 KD originals (  ) + 3 standards 
wonderful blend between KW, CD
" pastels in "Horn Salute"; remind of "Sunrise In Mexico"

"Monk's Mood" suspends time, yet manages to swing at low intensity; not necessary to have Blakey, in order for a band to swing.

NEXT:  Bud Powell