Allow Me to be the Last…

Posted by mwblogger

May 14, 2009

…to heap some praise on the Cuban group Tiempo Libre! I’ve really been enjoying their new record Bach in Havana, as much as I did their record with super-flautist James Galway a few months back. Like Villa-Lobos before them (who wrote a whole series of pieces called Bachianas Brazilieras), they fuse music they love—that of J.S. Bach—with that of their own native culture and I have to say the mix is vivid and fascinating. The first track, their take on the C-minor fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier is a spirited conga on that sacred text, followed by a cha-cha(!) on the D Minor sonata. Joined by saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, they tour through Air on a G String (a Bolero), the Gavotte from French Suite No. 5 (a Son, which they say “…is to Cuban music what sonata form is to classical music”) and the First Cello Suite; joined by another saxophonist, Yosvany Terry, they turn their focus on the Minuet from the Second French Suite and the famous Minuet in G.

I think my favorite track is called “Olas de Yemaya” in which they fuse a Batá (which is a ritual playing of drums to invoke powerful Afro-Cuban deities) with the C Major Prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier. Its something a little masterly, to take this delicate little opener to one of the greatest pieces ever written and put it through its pan-cultural paces with a certain reverence but also an equal willingness to knock it around a little bit.

The whole record is infused with this same have-at-it spirit, never meant to mock Bach but also knowing that the music is there, will not go away, and can therefore withstand this excursion. And without getting too lofty (ok, maybe a little), the whole spirited outing feels like one of those things that redefines the very idea of what sacred is or can be, on its own terms. Bach, for example, is one of the great composers to ever walk the planet—few, if any, would disagree with that—and so often his music is treated with art-defying reverence because when one is making art one has to be unafraid of the deepest and most sacred—what’s more, one actually has to be comfortable trafficking in same. So here comes a red-hot group of Cuban musicians, who love Bach but set out to do it on their own terms, in the way that is sacred to them. The result is not only another look at Bach, but a peek into another culture, and that culture’s definition of sacred. And clearly, if they do advance any kind of thesis (which I suspect is not their intent, but allow me one moment), it is that Bach can certainly take it, and has something to say to a culture quite different than the one for whom his music was intended. I’ve never much agreed that music was some kind of universal language, because music is spoken in more dialects than any other art form, but I do believe one culture’s music can help it to be understood.

But, as usual, I digress. Mostly, though, this is a really cool album!

For more information on Tiempo Libre visit: www.TiempoLibreMusic.com

Click here to purchase Bach In Havana

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