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Elliott Sharp began playing the piano at six. According to Sharp, he was performing concerts by age eight. Sharp claims that his parents wanted him to be both a concert pianist and a scientist. He gave up piano, first in favor of the clarinet and then the guitar. His interest in science led him to build his own effects boxes for the instrument. He became intrigued with all types of experimental music, from contemporary classical to free jazz and sophisticated rock. Sharp studied anthropology at Cornell, where he played in a band and took an electronics class with synthesizer inventor Robert Moog. At Bard College he studied with free jazz pioneer Roswell Rudd (future Lounge Lizards John and Evan Lurie were classmates). He went to graduate school in Buffalo, where his academic advisor was Morton Feldman. He moved permanently to New York City in 1979, where he played gigs at various underground performance spaces, including the notorious ~Mudd Club. In the '80s Sharp became a major figure on the downtown New York experimental music scene, collaborating with many of it's most prominent players, including John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Bobby Previte, and Butch Morris. Over the years, Sharp has led his own bands more often than not. His music draws upon the wide range of his influences, from Coltrane to Zappa to Xennakis and beyond. An improviser at heart, Sharp's compositions tend to be quite loose, allowing plenty of room for the musicians to roam. Among his recent projects is the blues/hardcore/free jazz hybrid Terraplane, with bassist Dave Hofstra, saxophonist Sam Furnace, and drummer Sim. This double CD-set is the companion to the final book reporting on the activities of Het Apollohuis. The recordings on these CDs give an idea of the music and the sound art presented in concerts at Het Apollohuis in the priod from 1980 through 1997. Out of a total of 500 performances I chose 38, from which exceprts of varying lenght have been included in this anthiology. These have been arranged in chronological order. The diversity of the selected pieces is characteristic of the programme of Het Apollohuis. Only limited number of composers and musicians who performed can be heard in brief fragments o these discs. Consequently a considerable number has been excluded. There simply was no way to include them all (this selection does not imply we value one above the other). The choice of the particular musicians has been my responsability (P: Panhuysen). liner notes: René van Peer sound selection: René Adriaans mastering: Frank Donkersgoed design: Tom Homburg, Marcel d'Anjou (Opera)