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Timba SymphoniCa

With a musical theater production on the horizon and a variety of collaborative efforts in the works, Tiempo Libre is securing its place as new crossover phenomenon.

Their name translates into “free time” but Tiempo Libre see less and less of it as this band of seven Cuban exiles who now live in Miami works toward their goal of finally taking home a Grammy Award. The group has been nominated twice for the honor.
While specializing in timba, the hard-driving, jazz-inflected Cuban variant of tropical dance music, Tiempo Libre also has the formal academic chops, the daring and the resourcefulness to take on a variety of musical projects not limited to the nightclub gig or studio recording. In the spring, for example, the group joined the Lynn University Philharmonia, performing Rumba Symphonica, a classical piece co-composed by Tiempo Libre’s pianist and musical director Jorge Gomez. The performance was featured at the Festival of the Arts Boca in Florida.
The keyboardist spoke with Hispanic about Tiempo Libre after the group whipped the classical music enthusiasts in attendance into a tropical hip-grinding frenzy with a second set of pure dance music.
The band can also as easily parley its skills into the arena of Latin Jazz, and from July 25 through August 17, Tiempo Libre tells its own story at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami via the medium of musical theater. With the help of a troupe of dancers and Scottish director Toby Gough—who took several Cuban-themed cabaret shows successfully around the world—Tiempo Libre promises to convert the concert hall into a portal to Havana’s recent and not-so-recent past.
Gough says the original production’s premise is to use the band to tell a larger story. “It’s trying to represent the story of Cubans living in Miami and how they arrived here, through the real-life stories of these guys from Tiempo Libre,” he explains. “At rehearsals, I am laughing and crying at the same time... at the relationships between these two cities.”
Aside from its pianist, Tiempo Libre is comprised of Joaquin Diaz on vocals, Raul Rodriguez Hernandez on trumpet, Leandro Gonzalez on congas, Tebelio “Tony” Fonte on bass, Luis Beltran Castillo on sax and flute, and Hilario Bell on drums. “We all knew each other since we were like 5 years old because we went to the same music schools in Cuba,” Gomez explains. But after traveling the world, independently living out their musical dreams, the current members found themselves all living in Miami and playing separately for a variety of acts like the late greats Celia Cruz and Cachao, as well as for trumpeter extraordinaire Arturo Sandoval and many more headliners.
During their free time, they played the music they loved most, timba. They enjoyed their work together so much, says Gomez, that they recorded the CD Timbiando in 2004 on a shoestring budget. By the following year they had scored a multi-album deal with the Shenachie Entertainment record label. The group did not disappoint. In 2005, they released Arroz con Mango, which received a Grammy nomination for best salsa/merengue album. Lo Que Esperabas, released in 2006, also earned a Grammy nomination, this time for best tropical album.
The band’s work ethic lends deeper irony to the group’s name. Their gift for collaboration means that aside from the Miami Libre theatrical show in July and August, the band has also recently recorded with world-renowned classical flutist Sir James Galway and is working on an album featuring Bach with a rumba twist. “We don’t just play concerts and gigs, we go to all sorts of universities and schools to teach our music,” Gomez explains.
One thing that separates Tiempo Libre from the rest of the world’s timba bands is that they do a lot with less. “The minimum amount of musicians in a timba group is about 14,” Gomez says. “A typical group has musicians, singers and dancers. We do it all together, at one time, and it’s double the work,” he explains. And they have to, because timba, even as it may be the answer to the regeneration of tropical dance music, doesn’t have the notoriety of so-called salsa music.
While Tiempo Libre has earned due praise from the Recording Academy, anyone who has had the fortunate experience of hearing the group live understands that is the best way to know who they really are. Most times it is a cliché to say that a Latin band is “hot.” But with Tiempo Libre we are reminded that clichés are so named because obvious truths are at their base. Be warned: Muy caliente!