Biography
Guitarist John Berenzy entered the New York music world as a working professional during the 1970s and has maintained an active presence there ever since. Born in Jackson Heights, New York, he encountered music at an early age and gained unusual access to it when his family began renting rooms to jazz musicians; several tenants who could not cover their rent instead left behind their record collections. These acquisitions exposed him to recordings that held real significance for career musicians, and among them he found the playing of Django Reinhardt, whose example prompted him to take up the guitar himself. Once Berenzy began his professional career in the 1970s, he never stepped away, performing across many different contexts with fellow artists while also producing his own recordings at intervals. He participated in the city’s late-1970s new wave movement alongside Patti Smith and Television. Over time he released the albums Votive Light and Sacred Heart, the second of which consisted entirely of acoustic performances, as well as the two-CD anthology Far City. His album Out of Darkness appeared in 2009. In addition to his instrumental work, Berenzy has issued poetry, among which is the collection Evolove.
Albums
