Amaro Freitas

Amaro Freitas – “Sankofa” (Far Out Recordings, FARO225LP). The Recife pianist’s international breakthrough is a spiritual, polyrhythmic leap—Afro‑Brazilian ancestral memory refracted through contemporary jazz. Freitas’s piano is percussive and lyrical at once, darting across odd meters and maracatu‑born cadences, while bass and drums carve shifting, drum‑choir architectures beneath. The compositions pay homage to Black Brazilian figures and philosophies, yet the music feels utterly present: searching, taut, ecstatic. On vinyl, the trio’s dynamics—from pin‑drop rubato to storming climaxes—breathe in full. For fans of McCoy Tyner’s drive, Trio‑era EST telepathy and the rhythmic imagination of Hermeto’s school, “Sankofa” is a contemporary classic.