The Brazilian world pianist Amaro Freitas comes to Fasching with his most experimental album Y’Y behind him. A record with the cream of the contemporary international jazz scene, New York harpist Brandee Younger, London-based piper Shabaka Hutchings and Chicago drummer Hamid Drake.
Freitas started his career as a pianist and child prodigy in his father’s church band at home in the coastal city of Recife in northeastern Brazil. He won a scholarship to the prestigious Conservatório Pernambucano de Música but was forced to drop out because the family could not afford the bus ticket. Freitas continued playing in wedding bands and stumbled upon a video with Chick Corea that changed his life.
In 2016, the trio’s debut CD Sanue Negro hit the jazz world with joy and astonishment. Now we are writing in 2024 and Freitas is a well-established composer and pianist whose music is rooted in the folk tradition and at the same time strongly linked to the contemporary global African-American avant-garde jazz community. The influences are found in the evangelical church, hometown Recife, funk, samba, maracatu and frevo.
Amaro Freitas stands in a constant conversation between these traditions and with his original synthesis of jazz and Brazilian music it is a great honor to welcome him solo to jazz club Fasching.
