Elliott Sharp

Elliott Sharp (b. Cleveland, Ohio, March 1, 1951) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer who has personified the avant-garde experimental music scene in New York City for over thirty years. He has released over sixty-five recordings spanning the musical spectrum from blues, jazz, and orchestral music to noise, no wave rock, and techno music.

Sharp describes himself as a lifelong "science geek,"[1] having modified and created musical instruments from his teen years. He is an inveterate performer, both as a soloist (playing mainly guitar, saxophone and bass clarinet) and with a number of ensembles he has formed over the years, including the blues-oriented Terraplane and Orchestra Carbon. He releases music under his own label (zOaR music) as well as punk label SST and downtown music labels such as Knitting Factory records and John Zorn's Tzadik label.

He has collaborated regularly with many people, including Zeena Parkins, Eric Mingus, Vernon Reid, Bobby Previte, Joey Baron, and David Torn.

Sharp was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Cornell University from 1969 to 1971, studying anthropology, music, and electronics. He completed his B.A. degree at Bard College in 1973, where he studied composition with Benjamin Boretz and Elie Yarden; jazz composition, improvisation, and ethnomusicology with Roswell Rudd; and physics and electronics with Burton Brody. In 1977 he received an M.A. from the University at Buffalo, where he studied composition with Morton Feldman and Lejaren Hiller, and ethnomusicology with Charles Keil.

Sharp also curates the State of the Union compilations of one-minute tracks by experimental musicians, and produces records for numerous artists.