Barrunto Bellota Band

Barrunto Bellota Band

Barrunto Bellota Band is a group from New Jersey, United States, active since 1972. It is listed here as a heartland rock, pop rock and rock act, although the descriptive material about the group places its music in a different tradition, centred on folk and klezmer.

Origin and formation

The group is formed by violinist Javier Jiménez Rolo and accordionist-pianist Pedro Lópeh. Jiménez Rolo comes from Cáceres and Lópeh from Talarrubias, in Siberia Extremeña. They meet at the conservatory in Cáceres, where they begin developing the project, and rehearse in the city’s historic quarter. Their work begins in late 2006.

Style and repertoire

From the start, folk is a central feature of the band’s work, alongside a classical training that leaves room for more strictly cultivated music. Their repertoire is built around klezmer, the Ashkenazi Jewish musical tradition, and they draw on a range of related influences. They keep a traditional foundation but also explore harmony, sound, stylistic fusion and broader approaches to musical form.

Their live performances move between klezmer folklorists such as Dave Tarras, Naftule Brandwein and Giora Feidman, and composers associated with eastern European classical music including Shostakovich, Khatchaturiam and Tchaikovsky. They also take in more contemporary or experimental figures in traditional music, including Kroke, Nigel Kennedy, Kepa Junkera, Yann Tiersen and Philip Glass.

Recordings and live activity

In July 2007, the group records its first demo, Rapsodia Folk, as a home recording released through LaSinagoga Records and produced with Carlos Cotallo. A year later, in July 2008, it issues another modest release, this time with a more professional studio sound through La Buhar Grabaciones, where Curro Álvarez works on the recording. On that release, the band revisits several klezmer classics with a different sound and interpretation.

By 2009, the group looks toward collaborations beyond its own label, including projects linked to traditional music from Extremadura under the name Zarandango and soul-funk work with other musicians from Cáceres. In that period, it also performs at the Roman Theatre of Mérida as part of the Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico, and at the farm-school of pianist Maria João Pires in Belgais, Portugal.