Amaro Freitas - Sankofa

Release date 2021

Sankofa is the third album by Brazilian jazz pianist and composer Amaro Freitas. Its title is named for the Adinkra symbol depicting a bird flying with its head facing backward. The pianist claims that it "teaches us the possibility of going back to our roots, in order to realize our potential to move forward." His first two outings, 2016's Sangue Negro and 2018's Rasif, drew notice for a truly original, percussive style that emerged simultaneously from the influences of Moacir Santos, Hermeto Pascoal, and Egberto Gismonti, and the modern piano trio jazz of Thelonious Monk and Chick Corea. With his rhythm section -- bassist Jean Elton and drummer Hugo Medeiros -- Freitas has reinvigorated the piano trio tradition by drawing deeply on folk sources from swaggering carnival beats of frevo and baião to swinging, sometimes angular harmonic architectures. Across eight tunes, they walk the tightrope between samba batucada, jagged post-bop, and even wonky classical minimalism. On Sankofa, Freitas' group more often than not play in unison, and solos are not desired ends, while harmonic and rhythmic discovery are.

AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek