Swiss-born and New York-based, the guitarist and songwriter ElianeAmherd has made a career out of touring the world, literally and stylistically. American jazz and roots, Latin, Afro-Cuban, and the great traditions of Brazil inform Eliane’s stylish, sophisticated global-pop sound. A graduate from The New School University for Jazz and Contemporary Music, she performs as a leader or a featured artist in New York’s premier clubs like SOB’s, Blue Note, Nublu, BAM, BBKing, etc. and tours in North and South America, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
Her albums “Now and from Now on” and “Skylines” which are broadcast internationally, continue to receive great press reviews and have topped the playlist of several US Radio Stations. On her forthcoming release La Dégustation, Eliane’s inspirations remain broadly international, but as a songwriter, she turns her lens to her home soil: the complex and diverse “terroirs” of the canton Valais in Switzerland, where wine is business, culture, science, and (nearly) religion. Each of La Dégustation’s tracks is named for a wine produced in her home region. Using her research and experience, Eliane weaves the science, the politics, and the myths of each into an imaginative and unlikely portrait of her homeland and her identity.
As much a linguistic polyglot as musical, Eliane sings La Dégustation in French, English, and Walliser Titsch, the Swiss-German dialect spoken in the upper valley of canton Valais. Locked down in New York City during the Covid era, Eliane found she had the time to rehearse her trio“like some kids in the garage,” playing weekly for months with bassist Amanda Ruzza (Amy Lee, Jill Sobule, Leni Stern) and the notable Broadway drummer Rosa Avila (Andy Williams).
With an assist from the legendary A-list percussionist Bashiri Johnson (Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, Sting), the band’s chemistry and astonishing musical range are on display throughout La Dégustationand its three-bonus track appendix, Quarantini Time, a virtual toast to the weirdest year most of us will ever know.
For more information visit: www.elianeperforms.com
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