Combined Tiempo Libre Files July 7

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Music Review | Tiempo Libre

Classical and Cuban Sounds in One Stop

By BEN RATLIFF

Published: July 1, 2009

Its not surprising to see a Cuban timba band playing Bach. Timba is aggressive and fullof ideas; its players shoulder Afro-Cuban grooves but add spaghetti junctions of

ornament on top, including Bach quotations. And most of the best bands in timba comefrom the Cuban conservatory system, so Baroque music runs deep in their learning.

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Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Tiempo Libre, a seven-member band originally from Cuba, playing above ColumbusCircle.

This is why Tiempo Libres new album, Bach in Havana (Sony Classical), doesnt

sound like a stunt. A little cute and eager to please, but not a stunt. The septet of Cuban

musicians who have relocated to Miami the group advertises itself as the first

authentic all-Cuban timba band in the United States makes its ambitions plain: itwants to spread timba to United States audiences who have no experience with it.


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On Tuesday at Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, where Tiempo Libre appeared for two sets as

part of its summer tour of colleges and festivals like Tanglewood and Ravinia, the musicwas both classical and populist. The band circled around a guaguanc Minuet in G (in

four-beat rhythm, not three); gave the opening lines of the Cello Suite No. 1 to theelectric bassist Tebelio Fonte in Baqueteo con Bajo before breaking into a montuno;

and folded Sonata in D minor into a cha-cha, in which the fugue part, played on keyboard

by Jorge Gmez, worked in a call-and-response relationship to jazzlike horn-section

arrangements.

But Tiempo Libre also played The Star-Spangled Banner part of the bands song

Arroz con Mango, about the double-consciousness of being grateful both to Cuba and

the United States and a version of Guantanamera, encouraging audience members to

sing the refrain. Through the set, ghastly synthesizer tones spoke in the worldwide

language of soft pop; brass counterpoint and the strong, serene groove of the drummer,

Hilario Bell, were reminders that you were listening to something irreducibly Cuban.

Above all Tiempo Libre wanted to engage the audience make it sing and move and

react. The band always points, at least, toward a dance music of sophistication and

abandon, but playing that music to seated audiences who dont know the cues doesnt

always create the desired effect.

The group had to work a little bit harder. So the singer, Joaqun Daz, came down from

the stage with three other frontline members during the funk-timba Manos Parriba

(Hands in the Air) for synchronized dancing. And in Tu Conga Bach, the horn

players started a dance line that threaded around the club. It took a while, but the room

warmed up.

Tiempo Libre will perform July 16 at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse, N.Y.,

with the Syracuse Symphony, and on Aug. 1 at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox,

Mass.; tiempolibremusic.com.


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Jazz ListingsBy THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: June 25, 2009

TIEMPO LIBRE (Tuesday) Bach in Havana (Sony Classical) is theaccurately named new release by this Miami-based Latin band; itreflects the conservatory training experienced by all of the groupsmembers in Cuba. Here, led by the pianist Jorge Gmez, TiempoLibre revisits that idea, outfitting recognizable pieces from the Bachrepertory with son, danzon and guaguanco rhythm. At 7:30 and 9:30p.m., Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at LincolnCenter, 60th Street and Broadway , (212) 258-9595, jalc.org; $30,plus a $10 minimum at the tables, $5 at the bar. (Chinen)


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Cuban Band Tiempo Libre Adds Timba Twist to Bach Compositions

Interview by Patrick Cole

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- If Bach were alive, hed flip that periwig to hear one of his neat

fugues reworked by the congas, fiery vocals and noisy brass section of a Latin band.

Jorge Gomez, the leader of the Miami-based Cuban group Tiempo Libre, thinks Bachmight even hit the dance floor on hearing the ensembles latest release, Bach in Havana

(Sony Masterworks). The recording, a Cuban take on almost a dozen of the maestros

works, was a way to combine the groups two musical loves, classical and Latin.

We started studying classical music 15 years ago, and Bach was the first composer thatwe learned, Gomez, 38 and a Havana native, said in a recent interview at BloombergsNew York headquarters before leaving for a recording session with violinist Joshua Bell.

By day we play classical music, by night we play Afro-Cuban rhythms, so now were

mixing both worlds.

Twice nominated for a Grammy, the group has been on a U.S. and Canadian toursincethe records May release. The band makes a stop tonight at Dizzys Club Coca-Cola at

Manhattans Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The seven-man ensemble comprises: Gomez on piano, vocalist Joaquin (El Kid) Diaz,

bassist Tebelio Fonte, Luis Beltran Castillo on saxophone and flute, Leandro Gonzalezhandling the congas, Cristobal Ferrer Garcia on trumpet and Hilario Bell on drums.

Tu Conga Bach

Tiempo Libre brings its mastery of timba, a mixture of Cuban music, salsa, jazz and rock,

to the Bach compositions. Tu Conga Bach, a radical reworking of the C Minor Fugue

from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, sounds like high-voltage salsa.

The album also includes numbers inspired by the C Major and D Major preludes, theMass in B Minor and other works by the 18th-century composer.


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At Miamis La Casa de Tula nightclub a few weeks ago, the bands show became a mini-

carnival as the crowd danced and clapped to their songs.

When we play, we dont want to just play music, we want to give energy and people

receive that, Gomez said. People feel happy, so they stand up and sing with us.

Gomez learned music on an 80-year-old piano during his childhood in Havana. He

performed in orchestras as a teenager, and then enrolled in Havanas Escuela Nacional deArte, where he and the other band members studied classical music.

If they caught you playing jazz or Cuban rhythms, theyd throw you out of the school,

he said.

Miami Reunion

At the time Gomez was studying, Cubans werent allowed to listen to U.S. music. To be

in a freer musical environment, he moved to Guatemala and worked as a record producerand performer. He came to Miami in 2000 and reunited with Cuban friends and

musicians to fulfill his dream of creating a timba band.

We were all playing with different artists like Celia Cruz, he said, but we said to

ourselves we need to play timba music, so we started the band. Right now, this recordingis our life.

Tiempo Libre performs tonight at Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Broadway and 60th Street in

Manhattan at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Information: +1-212-258-9595 orhttp://www.jalc.org/dccc. The Tiempo Libre tour continues through mid-August withstops in Syracuse, New York; Lenox, Massachusetts; Minneapolis; Highland Park,Illinois; and Columbus, Ohio.

(Patrick Cole is a reporter for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on this story: Patrick Cole in New York [email protected].

Last Updated: June 30, 2009 00:01 EDT


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Tiempo Libre reworks Bach and adds some funk to thefugue

Jorge

Gomez (third from right) says that Tiempo Libres loves are classical music and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Were mixing both worlds,

he said. (Crackerfarm/Jag Entertainment via Bloomberg News)

By Patrick Cole

Bloomberg / July 1, 2009

If Bach were alive, hed flip that periwig to hear one of his neat fugues reworked by the

congas, fiery vocals, and noisy brass section of a Latin band.

Jorge Gomez, the leader of the Miami-based Cuban group Tiempo Libre, thinks Bach might

even hit the dance floor on hearing the ensembles latest release, Bach in Havana (Sony

Masterworks). The recording, a Cuban take on almost a dozen of the maestros works, was a

way to combine the groups two musical loves, classical and Latin.

We started studying classical music 15 years ago, and Bach was the first composer that we

learned, Gomez, 38 and a Havana native, said in a recent interview at Bloombergs New

York headquarters before leaving for a recording session with violinist Joshua Bell. By day

we play classical music, by night we play Afro-Cuban rhythms, so now were mixing both

worlds.


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Twice nominated for a Grammy, the group has been on a US and Canadian tour since the

records May release. The band made a stop last night at Dizzys Club Coca-Cola at

Manhattans Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The seven-man ensemble comprises Gomez on piano, vocalist Joaquin (El Kid) Diaz,

bassist Tebelio Fonte, Luis Beltran Castillo on saxophone and flute, Leandro Gonzalez

handling the congas, Cristobal Ferrer Garcia on trumpet, and Hilario Bell on drums.

Tiempo Libre brings its mastery of timba, a mixture of Cuban music, salsa, jazz, and rock, to

the Bach compositions. Tu Conga Bach, a radical reworking of the C Minor Fugue from

The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, sounds like high-voltage salsa.

The album also includes numbers inspired by the C Major and D Major preludes, the Mass

in B Minor and other works by the 18th-century composer.

At Miamis La Casa de Tula nightclub a few weeks ago, the bands show became a mini-

carnival as the crowd danced and clapped to their songs.

When we play, we dont want to just play music, we want to give energy and people receive

that, Gomez said. People feel happy, so they stand up and sing with us.

Gomez learned music on an 80-year-old piano during his childhood in Havana. He

performed in orchestras as a teenager, and then enrolled in Havanas Escuela Nacional de

Arte, where he and the other band members studied classical music.

If they caught you playing jazz or Cuban rhythms, theyd throw you out of the school, he

said.

At the time Gomez was studying, Cubans werent allowed to listen to US music. To be in a

freer musical environment, he moved to Guatemala and worked as a record producer and

performer. He came to Miami in 2000 and reunited with Cuban friends and musicians to

fulfill his dream of creating a timba band.

We were all playing with different artists like Celia Cruz, he said, but we said to ourselves

we need to play timba music, so we started the band. Right now, this recording is our life.

Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.


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CHICAGO TRIBUNE | TRAVEL | SECTION 10 | SUNDAY,JUNE 28, 2009

Roughing it while sipping 40-year old brandy

i l t t

Roughing it while sipping 40-year old brandy

i l t t

A Amtrak should be able to reissue yourticket without charging more. In fact,hen I reviewed your letter, I thought thisust be a simple misunderstanding. Howuld any travel company issue a paper

cket in 2009?Then again, were talking about Amtrak.Dont get me wrong. I think passenger railthe future of transportation. Light rail

nd high-speed trains are more efficient,eener alternatives to fossil-fuel consum-g cars and trucks. I take the train whenev-its an option. Unfortunately, it isnt very

ten.Virtually all airline tickets are now elec-onic, meaning you dont get a real ticket

ut a confirmation number. When you ar-ve at the airport, you check in and aresued a boarding pass by the airline. Am-ak should be able to implement a similarstem.Still, Amtrak is clear about its ticket pol-y. Your tickets have value, it warns on itseb site. Please safeguard your tickets as

ou would cash. Amtrak is not liable for lost,olen, misplaced or destroyed tickets.I checked into Amtraks refund rules.

When you lose a ticket, Amtrak requires thepurchase of a replacement ticket. Sometravelers who buy a more expensive ticketare eligible for a partial refund of the secondfare by filling out a lost-ticket refund appli-cation, either online or through a stationagent.

But theres a $75 service fee and a five-month waiting period to ensure that theoriginal tickets were never used.

Next time you travel by train, keep yourtickets locked up somewhere safe with yourpassports and other valuables. Treat themas if they were cash. I hope Amtrak can finda better way of handling tickets in the fu-ture, but until it does, you have to workwithin the system.

I contacted Amtrak on your behalf. As aone-time exception to this policy, it offeredyou and your sister a travel voucher for thetotal value of the original tickets that wereaccidentally thrown away.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman forNational Geographic Traveler magazine.Read more travel tips on his blog,elliott.orgor e-mail him at [email protected].

Im trying to get a refund for lost train tickets,

and I need your help. I bought two Amtrak tickets

for my sister and me to travel from Osceola, Iowa,

to Denver recently. Then I discovered that my hus-

band, thinking that the envelope contained old

information from a recent Amtrak trip Id taken to

Colorado, threw the tickets away.

When I contacted Amtrak, I was told that lost

tickets are lost money, and I would have to pay the

conductor on the train for the lost tickets. If I found

the tickets within a year, I could have a cash refund

minus 10 percent or use them for future travel

within that year.

Of course, I will not find those tickets because

they went out with the garbage. Is there any sug-

gestion that you could give me so that I do not have

to pay twice for the same tickets? Im really frus-

trated.

Diane Stephany, Des Moines

RAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

Antiquated Amtrak:Lost ticket is a lost ride

By Christopher ElliottTRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

The musicians in the two-time Grammy-nominated band Tiempo Libre were born,raised and classically trained at Cubanconservatories but now make their home inMiami. Focusing on timba, a sizzling com-

bination of Latin jazz and Cuban sound, thegroup has been touring the U.S. to supportits latest CD, Bach in Havana. We talkedto pianist and music director Jorge Gmez,37, about touring with the band.

Q What is your favorite city to travel to?

A New York City. Its a crazy city, itscosmopolitan, and the food and themusic are incredible. We like going toTimes Square, to the Museum of NaturalHistory for hours and hours, and CentralPark. I also love the Florida Keystheyremind me of Cuba, with the fishing, peopleplaying dominoes, the same weather.

Q Whats your favorite hotel?

A I dont like big, luxury hotels. I like TheBlakely in Manhattan [blakelynewyork.com] between 6th and 7th Ave-nue. The people are so nice; its a smallhotel, not too crowded. The food and wineare incredible. And its in the middle ofeverything; you dont need to take a taxianywhere. In the Keys I love Casa Morada[casamorada.com] on Islamorada. Itsmade up of bungalows, in the middle of thetropical scene in the Keys. You wake upevery morning and see the seaand deerwalking around.

When we first started touring sevenyears ago, everyone shared a room. Now itsone person per room, but we all end up inone room anyway, playing music, playingdominoes, watching TV ... seven musiciansand one sound engineer. Its crazy. We all eattogether, go to the pool together, to the bar.Everyones together, like mom, dad and thewhole family.

Q What do you seek out when you travel?

A I like to find a jazz club with music andgood food. If they have a pool table,even better. Thats why I love New York; itseasy to find a club with filet mignon and apool table. I also like museums, somethingthatll show me the history of the place.Philadelphia has history in every corner;its a beautiful place.

Q What do you never travel witho

A My iPhoneif I dont take it widie. In Cuba I didnt have a phonyears. Its my music, its my e-mails,phone. Its my communication withone, my wife and son. Its everything

Q Any travel horror stories?

A Once in a while our instrumentmake it. We were in Singaporewent from Miami to Los Angeles to HKong to Singapore, 25 hours of traveinstruments and clothes didnt makwe spent one day without anything. showed up the next day. The best thiwhen we dont have to play the day wrive. I play with two pianos, and I neIve gone to New York, and the pianomake it the same day, so Ive had to cfriends and track down pianos. Its athing I have friends.

New York, Keys drawCuban-born musicianBy Anne SteinSPECIAL TO TRIB UNE NEWSPAPERS

CELEBRITY TRAVELER JORGE GMEZ

CRACKERFAR

Tiempo Libre music director Jorge G

also likes Philadelphia: It has history

every corner; its a beautiful place.


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CD Review: Tiempo Libre's 'Bach in Havana'--Salsa to theclassics

June 26, 9:42 PM

To call Tiempo Libre's version of Bach's D Major Prelude from Well Tempered Klavier, Book 1 an interpretationwould not do it justice. It is rather a reinvention of Bachs melodies placed in the frame of Afro-Cuban Jazz. Bachis just the starting point, quickly the fusion of jazz rhythms and structures blend through the music.

While this is Tiempo Libre's first album on the Sony label it is not their debut. Each of the members of the two-time Grammy nominated septet (Jorge Gomez, Joaquin "El Kid" Diaz, Leandro Gonzales, Tebeio "Tony" Fonte,Cristobal Ferrer Garcia, Hilario Bell, Luis "Rosca" Belran Castillo) were trained classically trained at La ENA,Cubas premiere conservatory and this severs them well.

Theirfirst piece, a conga inspired by The Well-Tempered Claviers C Minor Fugue, pulls all their energy together.The singer announces the albums intent in praise to Bach.

Johann Sebastian, tremenda escuela Johann Sebastian, great inspiration

Mas conocido por Bach Better known simply as Bach

Elha dejado, un gran legado Left us a great legacy

Y con mi conga te quiero contar One I want to share with you through my conga


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It is impossible to not tap or move to the beat of this piece.

In "Clave in C Minor" (Based on Prelude No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847) the subtle flavor of the piano is joined by atrumpet that teases out the Bach motif as the piano shifts into high gear. The trumpets echo back the motif in a

Guanguanco style (a type of rumba).

In their very danceable "Gavotte", Tiempo Libre uses French suite no. 5 in G major as a jumping off point. Thesassy trumpet sings out the melody in this Cuban song.

It should be no surprise how successful this group is at reinventing Bach's melodies. In 2008 worked on JamesGalway's album O'Rielly Street, where they did a Latin Jazz version of Claude Bolling Jazz Suites includingBaroque and Blue, as well as a timba take on Bach's Badinerie. The difference being this time around themusic in much more danceable. While they are not the first to fuse classical music with dance music, who canforget "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murray and the Big Apple Band, Tiempo Libre has taken it to the next level.

JANA: This CD of polite, intellectual and flirty dance music. "Tu Conga Bach" is more like a calling card and itintroduces the album's intent, but it doesn't make my hips want to go into overdrive, but it's sort of a flirty numberthat's followed by the jazzy "Fuga." "Air on a G-String" is a catchy title, and I'm not fond of g-strings to begin with,but this is actually a romantic easy-listening tune. If you're Catholic and already have some issues regarding

dancing and any sort of romantic transgressions you've done at, near or after dancing, "Kyrie" might send youstraight to mass and confession. Not being Catholic, all that subtext is lost on me and "Kyrie" is a lovely piecemixing piano with brass. Listening to this CD makes me want to put my hair up and dress in a light, flirty, summerynumber with a skirt that rises and falls with every turn.

Members of Tiempo Libre: Jorge Gomez, Joaquin "El Kid" Diaz, Leandro Gonzales, Tebeio "Tony" Fonte,Cristobal Ferrer Garcia, Hilario Bell, Luis "Rosca" Belran Castillo.

For more information visit their web side http://www.tiempolibremusic.com, and you can buy "Bach in Havana" atAmazon.


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Combined Tiempo Libre Files July 7