Louie Belogenis

Louie Belogenis is a self-taught musician who came of age during the heady days of the old East Village, when the remnants of a New York City avant-garde were still alive. Influenced by Buddhism, poetry, film, music, dance, and theater (he was a member of Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theatre for four years), Louie felt like a bohemian Alice in an esoteric Wonderland.

At this time he became friends with John Zorn, who selected Louie’s first saxophone from We Buy on Third Avenue and 11th Street. Encouraged by Zorn and musicians like Bill and Wayne Horvitz, Phillip Johnston and Joel Forrester, he entered the proverbial woodshed,  occasionally emerging to perform in public. It was during a gig with William Hooker’s ensemble that Rashied Ali heard Louie play, and invited him to visit his studio, the site of the former club Ali’s Alley. That fortuitous meeting led to the band Prima Materia, and many recordings and tours throughout the mid- and late 90’s. The relationship with Rashied continued up to the master’s untimely passing in 2009, with Louie visiting – sometimes on a weekly basis – to play and listen to stories from ‘back in the day.’

Louie has played with musicians such as Sunny Murray, Laurie Anderson, Borah Bergman, Joe McPhee, William Parker, Roy Campbell, Dave Douglas, Bill Laswell,  Joe Morris, Tony Malaby, Ikue Mori, Sylvie Courvoisier, Connie Crothers, Russ Lossing, Billy Mintz, and Roberta Piket, among others. He has recorded with the bands Unbroken, Flow Trio, Magical Listening Hour, Twice Told Tales, Old Dog, Prima Materia and Exuberance, as well as with numerous eponymous projects. His current trio, Terton, with bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Ryan Sawyer has just released “Outer, Inner, Secret” on Tzadik. He always seeks to find his way into the music through his heart.

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