Beldo & His Friends is performing at the MoonJune Festival Toledo on September 30, 2023.
New York City based multi-instrumentalist and predominantly guitarist, pianist, and composer, Beledo was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He began formal music and piano study at age six. As the British Invasion began to take hold of airwaves around the world, influenced by the Beatles and other emerging pop rock bands, he gravitated towards and discovered a natural proficiency for guitar. He has gained guitar-hero status in his teens, playing every theatre in his hometown of Montevideo, and captivating audiences in Uruguay and Argentina.
After a brief tenure with Uruguayan rock and blues super-group, Dias de Blues, Beledo pioneered the jazz-rock band, Maytreya, and later on, the mythical Siddhartha, inspired by the burgeoning jazz-fusion movement (Chick Corea, Weather Report, Soft Machine & etc.). His fusion efforts of the early 80’s in South America, during which he appeared at top venues and recorded with Pedro Aznar (formerly with Pat Metheny Group), Ruben Rada, and the legendary band, Opa, attracted media attention in the U.S., where he gained recognition as an upcoming talent in GUITAR PLAYER and JAZZIZ magazines.
Formal music studies continued throughout his college career. He performed classical music recitals on National Public Radio and in numerous theaters. While attending the University School of Music in Uruguay, he was a founding member of The University Conservatory Jazz Quartet, the university’s first jazz ensemble, sponsored by the school in an effort to integrate jazz into the traditional curriculum.
In the late 1980’s, Beledo moved to the USA and he has recorded, performed and collaborated in his almost 4 decades of professional career with Tony Levin, Pete Levin, Kenny Grohowski, Scott Petito, Jorge Pardo, Gary Husband, Asaf Sirkis, Ruben Rada, Hugo Fattoruso, Pedro Aznar, Gustavo Moretto, Manolo Badrena, Fernando Otero, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Joe Locke, Jeff Andrews, Gary Willis, Bill Berg, Rufus Philpot, Thierry Arpino, John Benitez, Jimmy Haslip, Jeff Berlin, Mauro Pagani, Gia Ionesco, Johnny Johnson, Lincoln Goines, Adam Holzman, Kim Plainfield, Mark Walker, Dewa Budjana, Tohpati, simakDialog, Dwiki Dharmawan, Dale Barlow, Steve Thornton, Ivan Nestorman, Stefon Harris, Randy Brecker, Andy Middleton, David Fink, Jorge Camiruaga, Bakithi Kumalo, Kearoma Rantao, Boris Savoldelli, Anton Fig, Jonathan Joseph, Cecilia Tenconi, Richard Cummings, Morris Goldberg, Michael Bissonette, Miguel Cantillo, Jaime Roos, Gilad Atzmon, Richard Boukas, Ustad Shafaat Khan, Neil Alexander, Emedin Rivera, Rodney Holmes, and many more.
Beledo’s last two albums were released on MoonJune Records: Dreamland Mechanism (2016) and Seriously Deep (2021).