Amaro Freitas Sankofa

Like all Amaro's albums, Sankofa has taken around two years to make, with the trio spending eight hours a day, four days a week in the studio. "We treasure the creative process. We know it takes time to reach a different place, and then it takes time to understand that place, to translate it. When we want to leave our comfort zone, the most important factors are time, dedication, discipline and wisdom. Months pass and ideas start falling into place. Time is the most important thing. We cannot make it to where we want to be without it. So, I also want to transmit this message to future generations: Let's slow down, let's give ourselves more time, let's do deeper things. Let's stop swimming in the surface, let's dive." From the slums of Recife in Brazil's North-East to international jazz icon, Amaro Freitas has worked tirelessly to become the artist he is today. Gaining international attention for "an approach to the keyboard so unique that it's startling" (Downbeat), his debut and sophomore albums Sangue Negro (2016) and Rasif (2018) arrived on a wave of instant acclaim. His new album Sankofa - a spiritual quest into the forgotten stories, ancient philosophies and inspirational figures of Black Brazil - is his most stunning and sincere work to date.