Free Tiempo Libre Concert Set for Portland's Director Park, 9/21

On September 21, Artists Repertory Theatre will host a free concert at Director Park in downtown Portland featuring the three-time, Grammy-nominated band Tiempo Libre, to celebrate the world premiere of the Broadway-scale new musical Cuba Libre. Tiempo Libre will be on stage 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for a free, full hour of their irresistible Afro-Cuban music and performing songs off their new Universal Music Latin Entertainment album Panamericano (music videos are available here: http://bit.ly/TLplaylist). Before and after this special set, Portland's DJ Blas will spin salsa music for all to dance and enjoy. Special guests TBA.

Cuba Libre, is a contemporary musical inspired by the collective histories of the members of Tiempo Libre, featuring a book by playwright Carlos Lacámara, the band's own music and the spectacular choreography of Maija Garcia, is told by a company of 21 highly trained, award-winning, multi-ethnic, multi-disciplinary actors, dancers and musicians. The musical is a bilingual theatre experience with the majority of the dialogue in English and the music largely in Spanish.

Tiempo Libre will perform live onstage for every performance during the show's world premiere run October 3 through November 8.

"To us, music is not just a way of life, it is a way of experiencing life. We all grew up together during a difficult time in Cuba's history, called the Special Period, when Russia had pulled out its support. Times were very hard, but music was a way in which we could escape our worries and enjoy ourselves. Later it was our dreams of playing the music we wanted to play that gave us the strength to leave Cuba and come to the U.S., a country which has made so many possibilities come true for us. We hope you will come to the concert and we hope you will come see Cuba Libre, because, to us, you won't just be the audience, you will be a guest in our house, a part of our celebration, and a part of our story," says Tiempo Libre founder and Cuba Libre music director Jorge Gómez.

Three-time, Grammy-nominated, Afro-Caribbean music group Tiempo Libre is celebrated for its sophisticated tropical music featuring an irresistible, exhilarating mix of jazz harmonies, contemporary sonorities and seductive Latin rhythms.

Throughout the past 14 years, the band has appeared around the globe and has been featured on television shows including The Tonight Show, Live from Lincoln Center, and Dancing with the Stars, as well as many entertainment programs on Univision and Telemundo. Childhood friends in Cuba, the bands' members reunited in Miami, and founded Tiempo Libre in 2001 during their "free time" off from performing with other artists. Since then Tiempo Libre's members have been on a mission to share their Afro-Caribbean heritage with as wide an audience as possible, reinterpreting and reinvigorating music born from the meeting of their musical origins with their new American experience.

"Music is universal. We've learned from playing all over the world that you don't need to speak Spanish for Latin rhythms to speak to you, for Cuban culture to move you." adds Gómez.

Newly signed in 2015 to Universal Music Latin Entertainment in partnership with Universal Music Classics, Tiempo Libre released its latest album Panamericano in June, 2015 to rave reviews. The album is currently being played on more than 180 radio stations.

More information at www.tiempolibremusic.com