Two-Time Grammy Nominee
Tiempo Libre to Perform

For Immediate Release:
Jan. 11, 2008

Tiempo Libre is known for its exuberant performance of timba, an irresistible mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and seductive rhythms.

RICHMOND, Ind. — The energetic culture of Cuba will fill Earlham College's Goddard Auditorium on Saturday, Jan. 26, when Tiempo Libre brings its dance-inducing music to town.

The concert, which begins at
7:30 p.m., is Earlham's first Artist and Lecture Series event of the spring semester and is open to the public. Tickets, which are available at the Runyan Center desk, are $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. Reservations and credit card purchases can be made by calling 765/983-1373.

Grammy-nominated Tiempo Libre is well known for its timba music, a relatively new style of dance music that draws from funk, jazz, classical and traditional Cuban rhythms.

"Timba is music for dancing, for moving, for forgetting your worries and inhibitions, and for sharing happiness and joy with everyone around you," says bandleader Jorge Gómez.

Tiempo Libre is made up of seven musicians playing piano, electric bass, drums, congas, trumpet and saxophone. Three of the musicians also do background vocals for a lead singer.

The band members grew up together in Cuba but "each of us left, one by one," Gómez says. "We found each other again in Miami after many years, and we had a dream to form a band playing timba, the music that we all loved growing up."

Because dancing is an integral part of timba music, salsa lessons will be available beginning at 4 p.m. before the concert and a salsa dance will immediately follow the concert. Both the lessons and the dance are free and will be held in Runyan Center's Comstock Room.

"For Cubans, dancing and music are the essence of life," Gómez says. "We grew up in a country where there was often no gasoline, no electricity and nothing to eat. Our music is what sustained us, literally and figuratively, during those hard times."

— EC —

Contact:
Mark Blackmon, director of media relations
765/983-1256 — E-Mail Mark

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This page last updated: January 11, 2008