pianist and vocalist eliane elias pays tribute to legendary jazztrumpeter/vocalist chet baker on her 2013 album i thought aboutyou. featuring a selection of standards strongly associated withbaker, elias mixes her native brazilian bossa nova with swing,straight-ahead jazz, and even a few bluesy flourishes with muchaplomb. joining elias are guitarists steve cardenas and oscarcastro-neves, bassist marc johnson, drummers victor lewis andrafael barata, and percussionist marivaldo dos santos. also addingmore than a few moments of deft and thoughtful improvisation iselias' husband, trumpeter randy brecker.
as baker grew up listening to the music of the '30s and '40s, manyof his own choices for songs to play were informed by the greatsongbook of those decades. baker also had a natural inclinationtoward a pretty melody and romantic lyric and he never failed topick great songs to perform. subsequently, baker's recordingsshowcase a superb batch of tunes to pick from. elias, who has alsoleaned toward playing melodic, often romantic music, is a perfectconduit for reinterpreting baker's music. here she plays such songsas "there will never be another you," "let's get lost," "justfriends," "embraceable you," "i get along without you verywell."