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Hot off its third Grammy nomination for Best Tropical Latin Album for
“Bach in Havana,” the dance-inducing Cuban music group Tiempo Libre will
kick off Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Performing Arts Series
with a show at 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 11 in the college’s
Hatfield Hall.
General admission tickets for the performance are $22 for adults and $16
for students and youths. Tickets can be purchased weekdays from 1-5 p.m.
in the Hatfield Hall ticket office or by calling (812) 877-8544.
Tiempo Libre performed last year on TV’s “Dancing with the Stars,” in
which the Cuban music group performed the song “Tu Conga Bach.”
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From Miami To Rose-Hulman: Tiempo Libre opens
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Performing Arts Series on September 11
at 8 p.m. Group members include (from left) Jorge Gomez, Cristobal Ferrer
Garcia, Leandro Gonzalez, Tebelio (Tony) Fonte, Hilario Bell, Joaquin (El
Kid) Diaz, and Luis Beltran Castillo.
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Tiempo Libre
Information about Rose-Hulman’s Performing Arts Series can be viewed at
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Tiempo Libre’s show is a dynamic, passionate performance of timba music
– an exciting and engaging combination of Latin jazz and traditional
Cuban songs. Their goal is to serve as ambassadors to Cuba’s musical
heritage, while celebrating the American experience.
The members of the Miami-based Cuban music group were all classically
trained at La ENA, Havana’s premier Russian-style conservatory during
the Special Period in Cuba. Now they are a sensation in the U.S., with
concerts all around the country and three Grammy nominations.
Tiempo Libre’s latest Cuban music album, “Bach in Havana,” its first
recording under its new deal on Sony Masterworks, was released last May.
The album takes Bach as a starting point from which to explore a wide
range of Cuban music forms and rhythms and features guest tracks with
Yosvany Terry and Paquito D’Rivera.
The album is a reflection of the two worlds of Tiempo Libre’s Cuban
musical upbringing. Tiempo Libre’s seven members led “double” lives
studying classical music at Cuba’s premier Russian-style conservatory La
ENA by day and by night meeting up to play timba, Latin jazz and the
rumba and in tambores. In Bach, Tiempo Libre found a kindred spirit: a
composer who wrote music in both the secular and the spiritual
traditions. It was only natural that they would be interested in weaving
their classical roots into a new musical tapestry.
Among many other keyboard works, both Bach’s “C Major and C Minor
Preludes & Fugues” from the first book of the “Well-Tempered Clavier”
make appearances on the album, the “C Major” opening onto a sonic world
of the interplay of Batá (African percussion), with the “C Minor”
propelling an intense ride over the rhythms of guaguanco, a Latin
youthful courtship dance.
In addition to recording the duet “Para Tí” with Bloomington-based
virtuoso violin player Joshua Bell (featured on Bell’s new album “At
Home With Friends,” released last September), the group also performed
with Bell on the October 2, 2009, “Tonight Show” and the January 21,
2010, Public Broadcasting System broadcast “Live From Lincoln Center.”
In fall 2008, Tiempo Libre recorded “O’Reilly Street” with leading flute
player Sir James Galway, which included an Afro-Cuban take on music from
the jazz suites of Claude Bolling.
In spring 2009, the group earned another high-octane accolade: The Cuban
family behind Café Bustelo decided for the first time in 80 years to
change the Café Bustelo can design to feature the group along with a
free download from the album.
Tiempo Libre’s concert at Rose-Hulman will include music from “Bach in
Havana,” as well as their two other Grammy-nominated timba albums, “Lo
Que Esperabas” and “Arroz Con Mango.” Find out more about the group at
www.tiempolibremusic.com.
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