If Eliane Elias’ remarkable 2021 album of duets with Chucho Valdés and Chick Corea, Mirror Mirror, focused on her dazzling pianism, and her 2023 album Quietude highlighted her characteristically understated vocal approach where bar lines dissolve away, her latest album Time And Again beautifully showcases her skills as pianist, vocalist, and composer.

From the gorgeous changes of album opener ‘At First Sight’ to the deep sense of regret expressed in the plaintive ‘Too Late’, the music-making on Time and Again is so in the pocket, the familiar Brazilian rhythms so seasoned, the empathy between the players so palpable, that it calls to mind Claude Debussy’s famous quote about music: “It’s not even the expression of a feeling, it’s the feeling itself.”

Elias touchingly dedicates ‘Falo do Amor’ to her granddaughter, Lucy, “who brings so much beauty, love, and joy to my life”, while the reflective ‘How Many Times’ features wonderful contributions from vibist Mike Maineiri and guitarist Bill Frisell. There’s also a magnificent duet with fellow Brazilian musician Djavan, performing ‘Sempre’, a song Elias composed specifically for him. First recorded as an instrumental ballad on bassist Marc Johnson’s outstanding 2012 ECM album Swept Away, Elias’ seductive vocals adroitly floating over the deep groove supplied by Johnson and drummer Peter Erskine on ‘It’s Time’ provides one of the album’s standout moments. Mark Kibble (of vocal group Take 6), who first worked with Elias on her 2015 Grammy-winning album, Made in Brazil, crafts heart-meltingly lovely backing vocals on six of the album’s eight songs.