Que Pasa: You
have performed all over the world, from countries
in Asia to closing the Tuscan Sun Festival in
Italy, and all over the United States. What
separates and unites the audiences and scenes
of each country?
Jorge Gomez: We see what unites
each country, each people, not the things that
separate them. Of course, there are places
where one audience might understand a little
more Spanish than another. But we are mostly
playing in places where people don't understand
many, if any, of the words we are singing. This
is what is so extraordinary and so beautiful
that we see that underneath, everyone is the
same. Music is a universal language. We
play from our hearts we try to transmit to
the audience the joy we feel when we play music
the music from our Cuban roots and people
understand it. We feel the audience giving back
the same joy. Aren't we all just looking
for some joy in our lives? It is very difficult
to be dancing and not feel some happiness. So,
we consider it our mission to get people up
and moving. We accomplish it. Even in Malaysia
there were women in burkas, on their feet, swaying
to our music.
Que Pasa: How
were Tiempo Libre formed?
Jorge Gomez: We knew each other
growing up and studying music in Cuba but each
of us has a different story about how and when
we arrived here in Miami, The Cuban music community
in Miami is very tight and every time someone
arrives, everyone immediately knows about it. So
little by little we all hooked back up. A
couple of us were playing in Albita's band and
we began to talk about forming our own band
to play Timba. Everyone told us we were
crazy. There have been very few Timba bands
formed outside of Cuba and even fewer, if
any, who have had much success. But we
grew up on Timba. It is our heart and soul. I
kept saying, why not? So, we formed Tiempo Libre.
As we were all playing with other musicians
Albita, Arturo Sandoval, Cachao to put food
on the table, we could only get together to
rehearse in our free time. That's why we
called the band Tiempo Libre (Spanish for free
time). Of course, the joke is now that
we have absolutely no free time!
Que Pasa: How
did you get your first break?
Jorge Gomez: Luck. Since several
of us were musicians in Albita's band, we knew
Albita's agent at IMG Artists, Elizabeth Sobol. We
sent her a demo of what would become our first
album, Timbiando. Literally three days after
she received it, she got a call from the executive
director of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago
looking for a young Latin band to open for Celia
Cruz. Apparently, Elizabeth had been so impressed
with the demo that she sent it to Ravinia. They
booked us and we opened for Celia in front of
12,000 people. As a result of that concert,
Elizabeth and IMG took us on for world-wide
management and our career was launched!
Que Pasa: Introduce
me to each member of the band and what they
each do.
Jorge Gomez: In order of seniority,
we have our lead singer, Joaquin Diaz. He
started singing with NG La Banda in Cuba when
he was very young, so even today he is still
known as El Kid. Then, we have Tebelio Fonte. We
call him Tony. He's our bass player and
he sings coro. After that, there's Eduardo
Quintana. He plays flute and EWI (electronic
wind controller). Leandro Gonzalez is our
conga player, and he sings coro, too. We
have Pavel Diaz on trumpet. And, Angel
Arce (he is known as Pututi) on drums. Oh
yes, then there's me. I am the pianist,
I sing coro, and I am also the music director
of the group. We all contribute material
for the group's original songs and I do all
the arrangements.
Que Pasa: How
do you see Timba music evolving and how do you
see yourselves evolving within that scene?
Jorge Gomez: I haven't been
back to Cuba for 10 years so I can't comment
on the Timba scene there. A lot of people
say that Timba is drying up there. I don't
know if that is true. What I can say is
that, despite all the naysayers, I see a new
future for Timba outside of Cuba. We are having
tremendous responses from audiences who have
never even heard Cuban music before! This
is very exciting. We run into people who feel
that no Timba created outside of Cuba can be
the real thing. I disagree. Virtually
every important musical form has evolved and
deepened as it has changed locations. Think
of Cuban son if it had stayed
in Santiago de Cuba and never travelled the
length and breadth of Cuba, picking up different
elements, enriching itself! Timba is like a
tomato. If you plant it in Cuban soil it
will taste one way; if you plant in Miami soil,
it will taste very different. But it will
still be a tomato it will still be sabroso
- delicious!
Que Pasa: You
sing about the immigrant experience in the title
track of your album 'Arroz con Mango'. Was this
an overall positive or negative experience for
you?
Jorge Gomez: I'm glad you asked
me that. For us, the title track 'Arroz con
Mango' is about the essence of Tiempo Libre. We
are all immigrants. We all left something
very precious behind our families, our
friends, our country. We all have gone
through very painful times. A sadness about
leaving our country will be with us for the
rest of our lives but we do not look back with
nostalgia or bitterness. We look forward
with hope. We feel such happiness living
in the United States and grateful to have the
chance to live here. Many Cubans come to
the US thinking that magically all their problems
will be solved but life is not like that. Each
one of us has struggled and we continue to
struggle to realize our dreams. But at
least here, it's possible. Tiempo Libre
is really a band that was formed from a collective
dream we had to play Timba to introduce it
to audiences around the world. And look, we're
doing it! For any Cuban to be able to make a
living as a musician is an incredible thing. In
'Arroz con Mango', the lyrics talk about the
confusion you have as an immigrant: who am I?
All the things that define life are missing
the language, the food even Cuban baseball!
But as the lyrics say "soy Cubano de
nacimiento por el ritmo que llevo adentro".
No matter where I am, I am Cuban
by birth, I am the rhythm I carry inside of
me. We wrote this song to celebrate both
our Cuban roots and the new life we have here.
Que Pasa: Has
living in America had an impact on the sound
of your music?
Jorge Gomez: Definitely. We
are surrounded by lots of musical sounds that
we didn't have in Cuba, not that we intentionally
mix in non-Timba elements into our music. It's
still 100% Cuban Timba, but it's impossible
not to absorb by osmosis. In Cuba, you
might hear other styles, but you would never
play them. Here, you not only hear other
styles, but as a freelance musician, you are
playing other styles too. Also, most Timba bands
in Cuba are 14, 16 sometimes 18 musicians, we
are 7. We realized that in order to tour successfully,
we had to be light on our feet. A band of 14
would be too expensive. So we conceived of a
band of 7. Three of us sing coro as well
as playing our instruments. The EWI gives us
a bigger brass sound than you would expect.
Many writers have commented that our 7 musicians
sound like 14. This is one of the biggest compliments
we can receive because it means that we are
accomplishing what we set out to achieve.
Que Pasa: How
would you say the experience of an artist working
in the US compares to the experience of an artist
working in Cuba?
Jorge Gomez: It all boils down
to time: how you use it, what's required of
it. In Cuba, you have all the time in the
world. You can rehearse and rehearse and
rehearse. The things you can achieve musically
are extraordinary. No one is saying, how much
are you going to pay me? People are playing
because they love to play. But you have
very few opportunities. What's the point
of rehearsing so much if you don't have many
concerts or you can't leave the country to tour? In
the US, it's the reverse. There's so little
time, so much pressure. But there are so
many opportunities if you are patient and persevering
and prepared to sacrifice. It's too bad you
can't combine the two worlds. That would be
paradise!
Que Pasa: Your
high-energy music makes the listener want to
get up and dance. Are you all good dancers?
Jorge Gomez: Of
course!!
Que Pasa: Which
artists inspire you?
Jorge Gomez: Oscar
Peterson, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chucho Valdes.
Que Pasa: Who
would you most like to work with?
Jorge Gomez: Norah
Jones, Joshua Bell, Julia Fordham, Rosa Passos
Their new album 'Arroz con
Mango' is out now.
