Free Summer Concerts to Celebrate Jazz: Amaro Freitas Quartet – Brazilian Jazz

This summer we are celebrating Jazz with a fresh new lineup of fantastic musicians who will be playing at Henry Gourdine Park. Indoors if rain, at Joseph G. Caputo Community Center, 95 Broadway, Ossining.

In the sweltering North-Eastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco lies the coastal city of Recife, where Amaro Freitas is pioneering sounds of Brazilian jazz. For the young pianist, the spirit of his hometown runs deep. From the Afro-Brazilian maracatu, born on the sugar plantations of slavery, to the high-intensity carnival rhythms of frevo and baião, Amaro’s heavily percussive approach to jazz is as indebted to these Pernambuco traditions as it is to Coltrane, Parker and Monk.

Amaro began playing piano in church, aged 12 under the instruction of his father, who was leader of the church band. By the age of 22 Amaro was resident pianist at the jazz bar Mingus and one of the most sought-after pianists in Recife. Come watch Amaro and his quartet play homestyle Brazilian jazz July 29th at Henry Gourdine Park!