by Alex Henderson
Eliane Elias has considerable chops as an acoustic pianist, although as a singer, she is definitely limited and doesn't have a great range by any means. No one's going to mistake Elias' singing for that of Flora Purim, Astrud Gilberto, Gal Costa or Tânia Maria. But while her voice is paper-thin, Elias sings with enough feeling and sincerity to make Sings Jobim a decent, if conventional, Brazilian jazz offering. Her second tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim (the first was 1989's all-instrumental Eliane Elias Plays Jobim), this CD finds her staying away from instrumentals and embracing familiar, oft-recorded bossa nova standards like &The Girl from Ipanema,& &So Danco Samba,& &One Note Samba& and &Desafinado.& Elias' singing (most of it in Portuguese) is the focal point, although she gets in a few nice piano solos. Unfortunately, Elias plays it safe and doesn't offer a lot of surprises. Given the many great but lesser-known songs that Jobim wrote, one wishes Elias had been less conservative and more adventurous in her choice of material. Although pleasant enough, this isn't one of her essential releases.