James Galway w/Tiempo Libre

The Man With the Golden Flute teams up with one of the hottest young Latin bands today!

Sir James Galway is the most influential flautist of our time, and is the most televised and recorded classical artist performing today. With over 30 million albums sold, Galway is a modern musical master whose virtuosity on the flute is equaled only by his limitless ambition. This summer Galway is celebrating his 70th birthday with a number of events all over the world, including his collaboration with Tiempo Libre at the prestigious Ravinia Festival in Chicago. They are performing a special “warm up” show here in anticipation of that concert.

Galway brought his boundless musical vision to his 2008 recording O’Reilly Street, where he worked with Tiempo Libre to re-create Claude Bolling’s Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio and a number of vibrant new compositions by Tiempo Libre’s musical director and pianist Jorge Gomez. The result is rich in the traditions of multiple genres, authentic yet emotionally seductive, transcending the borders between classical, jazz and Cuban music.

Named “Best Latin Band of 2008” by the Miami New Times, Tiempo Libre bring a true Cuban experience to their audiences. All of Tiempo Libre’s members were classically trained at La ENA, Cuba’s premiere conservatory, and are now based in Miami. TL is becoming an international sensation, celebrated for its incendiary, joyful performances of timba, an irresistible, dance-inducing mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and the seductive rhythms of son.

Both of their previous releases have garnered Grammy nominations, and they released their third album, Bach in Havana, earlier this year. It is a fusion of Bach with Afro-Cuban rhythms featuring guest tracks by Paquito d’Rivera and Yosvany Terry.

• Watch them play Bolling’s “Irlandaise”

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