Elliott Sharp is one of the downtown's most consistently original composers and a wildly versatile string player, whether it be on bass, electric guitar, or one of his wacky homemade hybrids. His music is rhythmic and intense, often drawing upon mathematical models such as the Fibonacci series, fractals or chaos theory for inspiration. With the release of String Quartets 1986-1996 all of Sharp's work for this classic format is now available exclusively on Tzadik. Performed by his longtime associates The Soldier String Quartet and the virtuosic Meridian Quartet many consider this to be his best and most challenging music to date.