Over the years I have met many of Brazil’s greatest artists, almost always in person. I crossed paths with Criolo several times between São Paulo and Paris, and from those conversations – never ritualistic, always rooted in the concrete reality of life and work – came pages that enriched Musica Jazz over time. With Amaro Freitas the story goes even further back: we met years ago, when his piano was already beginning to shift the coordinates of contemporary Brazilian jazz, and in the meantime a genuine friendship developed, built on mutual listening and repeated encounters. Musica Jazz has followed him for a long time and even dedicated a cover story to him which, I later discovered, was not merely a trophy to display. Amaro keeps it framed in his home. “It was my first international cover,” he tells me. “For me it’s a sign of a journey, not a prize […]
