Juan José Robles Mayol started his musical career as a child in rondallas (ensemble of stringed instruments) and folk bands in his his hometown, Alhama de Murcia, in southeastern Spain, playing the Spanish guitar, the lute and the bandurria.
At fifteen, he and his colleagues they founded the folk-rock group Malvariche, with whom he recorded three albums: “La Leyenda” (1992), “Que llueva, que llueva” (1995) and “En concierto” (1997).
From 2002 to 2008, he was part of the Camerata Aguilar orchestra, an ensemble with which he ventured into classical music. He participated in two of their recordings: “Scaramouche” (2003) and “Los Aguilar” (2008).
In 2007 he received the Professional Music Degree, in the specialty of plectrum instruments, at the Professional Conservatory of Music of Murcia.
In 2008, he became part of Manuel Luna’s Cuadrilla Maquilera. He participated in the band’s “Por Parrandas” (2010) and “Viajes Sonoros” (2016) recordings; and also performed with La Banda del Pepo, where he experimented with instruments such as saz, cümbüs and zanfona, among others.
In 2015, he founded with other colleagues, the traditional Murcian music group Mujeres con Raíz, with whom he recorded “Las edades de la vida” (2017).
His solo career began in 2016, with the self-release “Tiempo de espera”, focused on the instruments that always accompanied him in his long career. This first work was well received by the public and the media specialized in traditional and folk music. The lineup included Juan José Robles on various string instruments; Enrique González on percussion; Óscar Esteban on tambourine; Pablo Orenes on acoustic and electric bass; Constantino López on acoustic guitar and mandola; Jero Galián on Spanish guitar; Pepe Ludeña on violin; José Antonio Aarnoutse on flamenco guitar; Dani Valera on palmas; Carlos Beceiro on zanfona; Roberto Cubero on mandolin; and Carmen María Martínez Salazar and Jaime Lafuente on vocals.
“Tiempo de espera” was presented at the inaugural gala of the EXIB 2016 (Ibero-American Music Expo), in Évora (Portugal), sharing the stage with Portuguese artists Luís Peixoto, João Afonso and Celina Da Piedade, among others.
Between 2017 and 2018, he participated in the farewell tour of Paco Muñoz and in 2018 in Simfonic by Pep Botifarra & Pau Chafer.
In 2019, Juan José Robles released the album In-Quietud.
Discography:
La Leyenda, with Malvariche (1992)
Que llueva, que llueva, with Malvariche (1995)
En concierto, with Malvariche (1997)
Scaramouche, with Camerata Aguilar (2003)
Los Aguilar, with Camerata Aguilar (2008)
Por Parrandas, with Manuel Luna y la Cuadrilla Maquilera (2010)
Viajes Sonoros, with Manuel Luna y la Cuadrilla Maquilera (2016)
Tiempo de espera (Juan José Robles, 2016)
Las edades de la vida, with Mujeres con Raíz (2017)
In-Quietud (Juan José Robles, 2019)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.