Amaro Freitas

Amaro Freitas is a Brazilian jazz pianist and composer whose sound is rooted in the folk and ceremonial rhythms and harmonies from his country's northern region. His 2016 debut, Sangue Negro, showcased a percussive approach to the instrument that prizes the Afro-Brazilian maracatu rhythm, the high-intensity carnival rhythms of frevo and baião, the bop innovations of Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, and the post-bop and modal sounds of John Coltrane. 2018's Rasif employed baiao and a particularly Brazilian strain of post-bop that swung so hard it sounded like dance music. 2021's Sankofa showcased an even more expansive aspect of his compositional approach as he revisioned Brazil's historic folk styles and rhythms through the refracted lens of modern jazz. 2024's Y'Y offered solo pieces and select collaborations in compositions inspired by the pianist/composer's 4,600 km journey to Manaus, the capital city of Amazonas. Freitas hails from Recife in Pernambuco. Born in 1991, he began playing piano at age 12 in church under the tutelage of his father, the musical director of the parish band. It was clear from the outset he was a prodigy, and he quickly outgrew his father's lessons. He won a scholarship to the prestigious Conservatório Pernambucano de Música but had to drop out shortly thereafter because his family could not afford the bus fare. Undaunted, the 15-year-old earned the money for his studies by playing in wedding bands and working in a call center. That same year, he came across a video of a Chick Corea concert that altered the course of his life. Too poor to own a piano, Freitas studied day and night by practicing on imaginary keys in his bedroom. He eventually struck a deal with a local restaurant to practice before opening hours in exchange for performing later in the evening. The restaurant gig opened many doors for the young innovator, who by 22 was among the most in-demand players on northern Brazil's jazz scene; he became the house pianist at the esteemed club Mingus. It was during his long tenure at the venue that he met and began collaborating with bassist Jean Elton, who joined Freitas in searching for a drummer. They had heard about the abilities of a young man who played jazz in wildly varying time signatures named Hugo Medeiros, and they hired him immediately after hearing him play. Near the end of 2016, the trio issued Sangue Negro, their debut on Ponto4 Digital. The recording took the jazz community by storm and almost immediately thereafter, Freitas and company were playing festivals and headlining club dates all over Brazil. European critics also embraced the album as a tour de force of experimentation that framed a reinvention of the jazz tradition's historical structures. Glowing reviews and album sales were so consistent that Freitas signed with the U.K.'s Far Out Recordings (a label devoted to Brazilian music). Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Bruno Giorgi, the sessions for the sophomore outing -- simply titled Rasif -- began in February 2018 at Recife's Carranca studio. The label encouraged Freitas to record his own tunes and to that end, they cut nine of his previously unpublished compositions. The pianist expanded his group to a quartet for the outing by adding the reeds and winds of Henrique Albino. In August, Far Out preceded the release with the single "Mantra." The full-length followed in October and received universal acclaim. After touring his homeland, Europe, and the Americas, Freitas and his trio began intense daily four-hour rehearsals and demo sessions. They emerged with Sankofa, an album that revisioned historic rhythms through the lens and musical vocabulary of modern jazz. It was issued by Far Out in July 2021. In 2020, just as the pandemic's intense first wave passed, Freitas traveled to Manaus, some 4,600 km, away. The city -- and capital of Amazonas -- is located in the Amazon basin and is surrounded by lush wilderness and jungle. Freitas was not only inspired by the terrain, but by the history of its indigenous people, their spiritual and magical traditions, and their centuries-long stewardship of the land. Freitas recorded Y'Y (pronounced: eey-eh, eey-eh) at home in Recife. On half the record, he performed his compositions solo; while on the other half he enlisted contributions from harpist Brandee Younger, guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, flutist/saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, and bassist Aniel Someillan. Y'Y was released by Far Out Recordings in March 2024.
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