JUNE 28

Program to be announced from stage.

They're the top timba (Cuban Salsa) band in the country. The two-time Grammy®-nominated Cuban Tiempo Libre opens the third year of Sonidos Latinos with a scorching concert of crazy rhythms and infectious energy that will have you on your feet. ¡Baila!

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Arroz con Mango, the title of Tiempo Libre’s Grammy®-nominated 2005 album, means “something completely out of the ordinary” in Cuban slang. While the group’s horn section might sound like a familiar Cuban charanga, or dance band, there’s nothing ordinary about Tiempo Libre’s timba sound.  Timba, a Cuban version of salsa, combines elements of jazz, disco, funk, hip hop, and rumba to create catchy dance music. Tiempo Libre’s version-completely out of the ordinary-mixes in chamber music. The group’s latest album, Bach in Havana, which was released in May, mingles Johann Sebastian Bach’s fugues and sonatas with Afro-Cuban rhythms, for a richly layered, attention-grabbing reinterpretation of both genres.

Tiempo Libre’s seven classically trained musicians formed the band in their free time-hence the name-after attending La ENA, Cuba’s premiere conservatory. They all had thriving careers in Latin music, performing, touring, and recording with such artists as Albita, Cachao, Arturo Sandoval, NG La Banda, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Isaac Delgado, when they came together in 2001 to create the first authentic all-Cuban timba band in the United States. With the 2006 release of Lo Que Esperabas (What You’ve Been Waiting For), the group was nominated for its second Grammy.

The band frequently works with other artists. In Spring 2007 Tiempo Libre joined Venezuelan classical composer Ricardo Lorenz to create Rumba Sinfónica, a composition for symphony orchestra and Cuban band. In 2008, they contributed to flutist Sir James Galway’s album, O’Reilly Street. Bach in Havana includes guest tracks by Paquito d’Rivera, Caramoor’s 2007-2008 Composer-in-Residence and former artistic director of our Sonidos Latinos initiative.

As Sonidos Latinos enters its third season, the popular series focuses on Cuban music. The initiative, which was launched in 2007 with funding from the New York State Music Fund, celebrates the variety and richness of Latin American music and its growing relevance in our society. Later this year the series continues with performances by Cuban artists Paquito D’Rivera, Jorge Luis Prats, and Chuchito Valdés; the series concludes with Brazilian singer Luciana Souza on August 2

Back to Top