StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Tiempo Libre

Today we train our video spotlight on Tiempo Libre, who are coming to St. Louis next Friday, March 26 to perform at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus.

The Miami-based group, which blends Latin jazz with traditional Cuban rhythms, is made up of seven musicians who received classical music training at Cuba’s premiere conservatory, La ENA. Formed in 2001, Tiempo Libre has played major festivals, concerts and clubs all over the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. Their most recent album, 2009's Bach to Havana, blends Bach compositions with Afro-Cuban rhythms and feature a guest appearance by saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera.

Today's first clip shows the band in concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center with guest stars Jose "Pepito" Gomez and "El Kid." Video quality is a little rough, but the excerpt does provide some of the flavor of the band's live performance in a jazz-oriented setting.

Down below is a clip - apparently taken at some sort of street festival but otherwise unidentified - of Tiempo Libre performing "Ayer Te Llame". (Yes, the picture is in B&W, so don't attempt to adjust the setting on your monitor. The audio quality is suprisingly good, considering.)

The third video is a half-hour special produced by Michigan State University that chronicles Tiempo Libre's visit to the MSU campus to perform Rumba Sinfónica, a symphonic work composed by the group's pianist and leader Jorge Gomez. And today's fourth and final clip shows the band's appearance last year on the ABC-TV program "Dancing With The Stars," for which they perform "Tu Conga Bach" from the Bach to Havana album.

(Edited after posting to correct the day and date.)