Playing With Passion

Eliane Elias is proof that music is the international language.

Elias is a pianist and singer who blends American jazz, pop and soul with Brazilian-style Bossa Nova music. Sharing these musical styles with audiences in the U.S. has helped her learn something about the power of song.

“What’s so interesting is that even if I’m singing a song that is in Portuguese, because I sing in English too, but the ones that are in Portuguese, I tell the people a little bit of what the song is about, so they can understand the general idea of the lyric,” she says.

The emotion she puts into those songs has English-speaking audiences convinced that they understood more than just the general idea of a song. “People always say to me, I think I understood everything you were saying,” she says.

Elias will perform two concerts on Sept. 25 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. The concerts are part of the New Jersey Blues & Jazz Festival.

Along with band members — Marc Johnson on bass, Mark Walker on drums, Rubens de la Corte on guitar and Marivaldo dos Santos on percussion — Elias will perform songs from her newest album, “Light My Fire,” which was released in late May. That album features Brazilian-fused covers of songs made famous by The Doors (hence the album’s title), Stevie Wonder and jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond.

“Once I decide on the concept of each album I’m recording, then I go after the songs that will deliver the message, whatever the intention is,” Elias says when asked how she selects songs for an album. “For this album, for “Light My Fire,” the concept for the album was to (record) Brazilian songs that were beyond the Bossa Nova.

She also wanted to bring a sensual aspect to the record. “The romantic aspect of music is something that appeals to me and the romantic songs are there,” she says.

“Light My Fire” also features original songs written by Elias, including “What About the Heart (Bate Bate),” which earlier this week received a Latin Grammy Nomination for Best Brazilian Song.

“It’s always good news, isn’t it?” she says of the Grammy nod. “We’re all very excited.”

She’ll also perform American classics and Bossa Nova standards. “It’s a nice musical journey we are bringing,” she says.

Elias’ visit to New Brunswick is part of a busy touring schedule that, in her words, is taking her “all over the universe.” Live performing, she says, allows her and the band to explore her music in new ways.

“Mostly I will be doing different things that I have recorded but they are stretched,” she says. “They are done in a different way… so that we get a chance to showcase every player in the band.”

This marks the fifth year for the New Jersey Blues & Jazz Festival. Concerts are held at the Backstage Jazz Club, the State Theatre’s 192-seat club-style venue, which creates a more intimate musical setting. The Festival will also feature performances from Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues on Sept. 22, The Larry Coryell Trio on Sept. 23 and the Tito Puente Jr. Orchestra on Sept. 24.

Eliane Elias will perform at the State Theatre, 15 Livingston Ave in New Brunswick on Sept. 25 at 1 and 4 p.m. Tickets cost $55-$85. For tickets and information, call 732-246-7469 or go to www.StateTheatreNJ.org.