Is there room in jazz for another tribute to the great pianist Bill Evans? Well, sure. Evans's introspective, impressionistic style has influenced countless pianists over the past half century. Do we need this particular one? Not so much. Eliane Elias, who was born in Brazil and lives in New York, is a fine piano player. But she tends to be kind of a lightweight - improvising, yes, of course, but never risking too much. Her supporting cast couldn't be better - bassist Marc Johnson (her husband) and drummer Joey Baron are A-listers. But this record just isn't compelling. With 17 tunes mostly in the 3-to-4-minute range, the trio never gets revved up. Elias tackles the obvious choices ("Blue in Green," "Waltz for Debby," "Detour Ahead") and some less-obvious ones ("I Love My Wife," "Evanesque"), but nothing leaps from the speakers. It's background music. Elias would have done well to halve the number of tunes, stretch out a bit, and resist the temptation to sing. Her voice is not distinctive, and it's hard to believe her vocals are there for any purpose other than to sell CDs to the cocktail-music crowd. [Steve Greenlee]
ESSENTIAL "You and the Night and the Music"
