Y’Y

Those who have been to the Amazon find it deeply affecting, coming away with a desire to contribute in some way, or to at least spread the word. Although Freitas is originally from Recife, a town in Brazil’s northeast with a deeply ingrained music culture, for this release he was drawn to Manaus, the city deep inside the Amazon basin, to let its rhythms accompany his superbly played piano. The first half plays as a suite in homage to Amazonian spirits, with tracks bleeding into each other and Freitas’ piano running like a stream over smoothed pebbles of percussion in tribute to the much-missed Naná Vasconcelos (‘Viva Naná’), the piece climaxing with the pounding ‘Dança dos Martelos’. The second half shows Freitas has truly entered the international scene as he is joined by peers Hamid Drake on drums, Jeff Parker on guitar and the currently ubiquitous Shabaka Hutchings, who plays the flute, having recently given up his saxophone. ‘Mar de Cirandeiras’, inspired by the traditional circular ciranda dance, echoes with beautifully plucked guitar by Parker and the album ends with the tour de force of ‘Encantados’, the ensemble celebrating the African diaspora with an international crossover.