Ph: Celeste Rojas Mugica
BELÉN LÓPEZ
Belén López is a bass player, composer and improviser born in 1995 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her work explores the sounds of jazz, free improvisation, creative and experimental music.
She started playing guitar at 10 years old at school and later on taking piano lessons. At the age of 15 she started playing electric bass and took lessons with Federico Salgado. That's when she became more advocate to music exploring different genres such as funk, rock, blues, candombe and argentinean folk music. In 2012 she started studying upright bass and a couple of years later she entered UNA conservatory for classical music. Meanwhile, her interests in music started moving towards jazz and improvised music. She would take ensambles and private lessons in jazz language after school. She studied with various musicians from the scene in Argentina such as Fernando Botti, Daniel Maza, Carlos Vega, Jeronimo Carmona and took ensamble
with Ernesto Jodos, Juan Cruz de Urquiza, Ricardo Nolé, etc. She was working as sessionist in various groups such as with blues guitarrist Botafogo with whom they traveled around the country and to Bolivia. She's been playing with many important musicians from the jazz and improv. scene in Argentina such as Ernesto Jodos, Eloy Michelini, Yamile Burich, Carto Brandan, Francisco Lo Vuolo, Bárbara Togander, etc. She also played with some international musicians such as George Garzone, Leo Genovese, Antonio Hart and Larry Braggs (Tower of Power) on their tours in Argentina.
She later travelled to New York and studied with Rufus Reid, David Wong, Yasushi Nakamura and took a lesson with Ron Carter and Michael League (Snarky Puppy). On this experience she got to play with saxophone player Vincent Herring and drummer George Coleman Jr. at Gourdine Park Jazz Festival (NY).
In 2018 she moved to New York City to study at The New School where she got a full scholarship. She got to study with bassists Linda May Han Oh, Sean Conly, drummer Nasheet Waits, Anat Cohen, Rachel Z, William Parker, Dave Douglas and others. She also discovered Gnawa music and started studying sintir with Morrocan musician Samir Langus. During her staying she performed with various artists around the city including George Garzone and Leo Genovese at Cornelia st. café and Rodney Green and Nicole Glover at Williamsburg Music Centre. She traveled to Switzerland and played at Bern Jazz Festival.
In the end of 2019 she moved back to Buenos Aires and became part of collective interdisciplinary group and improvised series “La Jaula se ha vuelto pájaro y se ha volado” created by saxophonist and composer Camila Nebbia and cellist Violeta Garcia. She also started a noise dúo called Sónica Distópica.
In 2021 she played at Ballena Azul CCK under a project called Autoras Argentinas directed by producer Lucy Patané, and shared stage with great musicians such as Mariana Baraj, Lula Bertoldi (Eruca Sativa), Nadia Larcher (Don Olimpio), Flor Bobadilla, Noelia Sinkunas, Laura Vazquez and many more.
At the present time Belén is bassist for international pop artist Julieta Venegas. She is also playing on different projects such as Simona, the music of Simon Diaz arranged by Julia Sanjurjo and Andres Elstein, a free jazz trio with Lucas Goicochea and Mariano Moreira with whom she travelled to Santiago del Estero Jazz Festival, a collaborative experimental songs group called Cipsela with Fran Cossavella (bombo legüero) and Juana Sallies (piano and voice) and a jazz/creative music group called Madrigal. She is also playing argentinian music such as chamamé, zamba and tango in a group called Flamamé with bandoneonist Milagros Caliva, pianist Noelia Sinkunas and singer Flor Bobadilla.
She released her first album as a leader and composer in August 2022 with her sextet formed by Sergio Wagner on flugelhorn, Lucas Goicoechea on alto sax, Violeta Garcia on cello, Pia Hernandez on piano, Nicolás del Águila on drums and herself on bass.