Mumbai: Sony BMG Masterworks has inked an exclusive partnership with the world’s leading flute player, Sir James Galway and has recorded O’Reilly Street, which was released on 16 September.
The album reflects an exciting collaboration between Galway and the Cuban music group, Tiempo Libre, acclaimed for its high-voltage timba music.
Typical of Galway’s innovative approach to both his life and his career, O’Reilly Street has an unusual twist, as it features music from the Claude Bolling Jazz Suites with a dynamic Afro-Cuban beat. The recording includes Bolling’s Baroque and Blue, an exciting new arrangement of Bach’s Badinerie as well as a number of vibrant new compositions by Tiempo Libre’s musical director and pianist Jorge Gomez.
Galway said, "I think this is one of the most outstanding recordings I’ve ever been involved in and I’m very excited about it … at my age to get to do this sort of thing is fantastic!"
Galway has recorded more than 60 albums, which have sold over 30 million albums worldwide. As he approaches his 70th birthday, this dynamic new recording celebrates a new stage in his 50 year career. Growing up, Tiempo Libre’s members were all classically trained in Cuba’s premiere conservatories. Now, as the first authentic all-Cuban timba band in the U.S.A., they are hailed as ambassadors for modern Cuban music and culture.
Galway was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1979 and was knighted in 2001 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services to music.
