Amaro Freitas - Sankofa - VINYL LP

With his new album Y'Y (pronounced Incheey-eh, eey-ehInch), Amaro Freitas steps into a new realm of musical creation. A realm rooted in magic and possibility, and tempered by a sense of stewardship for the earth's bounties. Side A serves as an expression of connection to the earth and to the ancestors, paying homage to the forest and the rivers of Northern Brazil with both the music and the album title, Y'Y, a word written in the Sateré Mawé dialect, an ancestral indigenous code that means water or river. And by bringing to life lessons he learned in the Amazon about the incandescent power of enchanted spirits who intervene on behalf of the community in times of struggle. On Side B, Y'Y shows the connections between the global Black avant-jazz community. Bringing together multi-instrumentalist Shabaka Hutchings, harpist Brandee Younger, bassist Aniel Someillan, guitarist Jeff Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, the music creates an artful conversation by weaving together jazz traditions from across the world, while staying rooted in the unique sounds and rituals found in Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous cultures. Freitas continues to intwine ancestral knowledge into music on Y'Y by bringing his fresh, InchdecolonizedInch interpretation of Brazilian jazz and sharing music that may well shatter our preconceived notions of what jazz can be.

Les Muffatti - Armonico Tributo [COMPACT DISCS] date 11/08/2005

First album by José Afonso recorded and published after the 25th of April, InchCoro dos TribunaisInch is a truly timeless record, yet another tour-de-force that clearly demonstrates that musical experimentation, the crossover approach between Portugal and Africa, as well as the themes lyrical lines of intervention and humanism that José Afonso had already accustomed us to. Engraved on London with Fausto Bordalo Dias, Vitorino, Carlos Alberto Moniz, Adriano Correia de Oliveira, José Niza, Yório Gonçalves and Michel Delaporte, the disc is composed entirely of themes written before the 25th of April, as if José Afonso had not felt the need to comment on current events but to continue, always timelessly, to wait a better future. Almost 50 years later, the album is more relevant than ever and continues to demonstrate precisely that genial timelessness, which makes it more current than ever.