The three-time Grammy-nominated Cuban music group Tiempo Libre is one the hottest young Latin bands today. Equally at home in concert halls, jazz clubs and dance venues, Tiempo Libre’s Miami-based members are true modern heirs to the rich tradition of the music of their native Cuba. Classically trained at Cuba’s premiere conservatories, today, the group is a hit in the U.S. and abroad, celebrated for its incendiary, joyful performances of timba, an irresistible, dance-inducing mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and the seductive rhythms of son.

The group’s new Sony Masterworks timba recording, My Secret Radio, was released May 3, 2011. The album pays homage to Tiempo Libre’s teenage years in Cuba, a time when the government forbade its citizens to listen to American music and Russia had pulled its support from the island. Inspired by their Afro-Cuban tradition, but eager to catch the new trends and sounds coming from the U.S., Tiempo Libre’s members would fashion homemade antennas and secretly listen to the music pulsating from Miami radio stations at night. These secret radio sessions fueled Tiempo Libre’s dreams of living in America, free to perform their songs and build the careers they wanted while helping them gather the strength that it took to leave it all behind – families, friends, a country, a life – to pursue those dreams. The CD is their tribute to the many powerful voices, including Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Gloria Estefan and Earth Wind & Fire, that rocked their world. The album features guest performances by jazz singer Rachelle Fleming and reunites Tiempo Libre founder Jorge Gomez with the legendary Cuban songstress Albita.

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