Rivers in the Keys: Amaro Freitas on Enchantment, Ancestry, and the Future of Solo Piano

Amaro Freitas. Photo: Michael Hoocherman

In a space as intimate as SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab, the Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas doesn’t just perform pieces—he creates an atmosphere. A pilgrimage to the Amazon inspired his recent music, and his solo set translates that experience into sound: rainforest textures, ritual movements, and the feeling of two mighty rivers converging and flowing as one. (Click play to listen to an interview with Amaro Freitas.)

“I create a unique approach to music in my concerts,” he says. “I have my sound engineer’s support during the performance… I craft moments using loops, small flutes, instruments from the Amazon, and special effects on the piano. I use a lot of delay and reverb, along with many effects on my voice… It’s so beautiful, and I believe it’ll be a surprise for the San Francisco jazz audience.”

His solo program unfolds in distinct stages. “When I play solo, I have three moments… At first, I like to improvise and play a new piece… I like to experiment and feel the energy. In the second part, I invite the audience to listen… and sometimes to sing with me… The first part reflects the Amazon’s vibe, and in the second part, it’s the prepared piano with relaxed sounds.”

Freitas’s rhythmic language was shaped in Recife, where he learned keyboard at an evangelical church under his father’s guidance and started to see the piano as a percussion instrument. “Cecil Taylor and Thelonious Monk inspired me,” he explains. “It’s like Salvador-style samba on the piano… First, I was influenced by African sounds, then by Brazilian styles.” His story reflects this ongoing journey: a self-taught rise from church performances to international stages, with a voice that draws on frevo, maracatu, and baião, while avoiding clichés about Brazilian jazz.

A spark of inspiration came from discovering Chick Corea. “When I listened to the Chick Corea Trio, I could hear different scores and endless possibilities… That music changed the way I listen, my creativity, and how I make music,” he says. He still remembers telling Corea what it meant to him after a concert: “He hugged me and said, ‘Continue, keep on. Music is our life, and music is Love.”

Freitas’ latest album, Y’Y—named for a Sateré Mawé word meaning “water” or “river”—condenses his Amazon encounters into a cycle of pieces about care, reciprocity, and enchantment. The project pays homage to the forest and the rivers of Northern Brazil: a call to live, feel, respect, and care for nature, recognizing it as our ancestor. Track by track, the motif of the encantados—mythic beings who intervene for communities—threads the album’s sound world, from the rumble of a thunder drum in “Mapinguari (Encantado da Mata)” to aquatic timbres in “Uiara (Encantada da Água).”

Onstage, that mythology becomes practice. “Encantados involves some legends,” he says. “They are spirits from Brazilian mythology, residing in the Amazon rainforest… I believe it represents a good relationship with our spiritual connection, with nature, the planet, and our ancestors… When I play the piano, flutes, and bass, and Hamid Drake plays the drums, I share my ideas and invite them to contribute… The most important thing is that we have a strong connection here in the studio.”

What does that feel like in real time? “I connect with nature. Maybe at this moment I change. I’m not afraid. I am not thinking… I dance, and I give all the people excellent energy, and I receive the same from the audience… we can create the best connection that music can make… in a sense, I’m not Brazilian, not Black, we’re just humanity, just nature.”

Amaro Freitas. Photo: Michael Hoocherman

The Joe Henderson Lab is a fitting crucible—close air, direct sightlines, and a piano within arm’s reach of listeners. Freitas thrives on that proximity. “Playing in a small club feels different because the connection is more immediate. It’s more intimate, closer to the audience, and I can sense the energy more directly. This influences the way I approach playing the piano.” Over four performances—Friday, October 24, and Saturday, October 25, with 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. sets each night—he plans to shift the material night to night. “I think I have a different set list… For the first part, I want to improvise a lot and explore different sounds… I really like the idea of playing at the same place for four shows.”

Expect new works and reimagined pieces, along with the playful exploration of the prepared piano. “Fresh improvisations and other pieces… I can play some Brazilian songs, as well as new compositions,” he says. “But overall, I plan to do a ‘Three Boats To Amazon,’ and I will include a prepared piano because I think it’s the future of music. I want to share this with the audience.” That faith in experimentation connects the textured rituals of his recent work to the broader Black avant-jazz scene—he has recorded with Shabaka Hutchings, Brandee Younger, Jeff Parker, Hamid Drake, and Aniel Someillan—while maintaining the Recife pulse that anchors his phrasing.

And as he prepares to sit at the Lab’s piano, his focus remains steady. “Music is our DNA,” he says, “and when you play music, you can connect with our Encantados… We invite people to dive into the river of sound possibilities and breathe vibrational oxygen in our bodies through the air.” Then, a final charge, as simple as it is brave: “I’m not afraid… I am ‘Encantados.’”

Ticket Info

Tickets & Dates: Amaro Freitas (solo) — Joe Henderson Lab (SFJAZZ Center), Friday, October 24 & Saturday, October 25, 2025; two shows nightly at 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Tickets available at SFJAZZ.org.

Visit Amaro Freitas’ Bandcamp page for music and much more.