Eliana Pittman
Encyclopedia
Eliana Pittman born Eliana Leite da Silva was one of the more soulful singers of early 1970s. The stepdaughter of the jazz
saxophonist Booker Pittman
, she was deeply influenced and encouraged by him to become an artist, as he was her first music teacher, mentor and partner on some records.
With a distinctive swinging voice and intensity in her style, Pittman was a brilliant scat singer
who turned insipid novelty tunes and light pop into definitive, jazz based treatment. Her first great hit was Tristeza, recorded in 1966, which gained her instant recognition in South America, though she never had a huge hit like Astrud Gilberto
's Garota de Ipanema
. During the 60s and 70s, she toured throughout Brazil, Italy
, France
, Japan
, U.S.
, Spain
and Venezuela
.
In 2001, Pittman opened a new tour starting from Rio de Janeiro. Since then, she has been alternating moments of reclusion and some activity as a TV actress.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist Booker Pittman
Booker Pittman
Booker Pittman or Pitman was the son of Portia Pittman and a grandson of Booker T. Washington. He became an accomplished jazz clarinetist and played with greats like Louis Armstrong and Count Basie in the US and Europe in the 1920s and 30s.He left the US for the first time in 1933, when he went...
, she was deeply influenced and encouraged by him to become an artist, as he was her first music teacher, mentor and partner on some records.
With a distinctive swinging voice and intensity in her style, Pittman was a brilliant scat singer
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
who turned insipid novelty tunes and light pop into definitive, jazz based treatment. Her first great hit was Tristeza, recorded in 1966, which gained her instant recognition in South America, though she never had a huge hit like Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
's Garota de Ipanema
The Girl from Ipanema
"Garota de Ipanema" is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel.The...
. During the 60s and 70s, she toured throughout Brazil, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.
In 2001, Pittman opened a new tour starting from Rio de Janeiro. Since then, she has been alternating moments of reclusion and some activity as a TV actress.
Selected discography
- Eliana & Booker Pittman - News From Brazil (Odeon/Paradise Masters, Brazil, 1963)
- Eliana Pittman (Odeon/Amazon, Brazil, 1972)
- Quem Vai Querer (RCA, Brazil, 1977)
- Soul Of Brazil - Funk, Soul, & Bossa Grooves 1965 to 1977 (EMI/Odeon, France, late 1970s)