This two part evening kicks off with a reading from Elliott Sharp‘s new book Feedback (Wesleyan University Press) punctuated with guitar solos, and followed by improvised duets with James Brandon Lewis on saxophone and electronics.

Feedback is a wide-ranging meditation on music, sound, artificial intelligence, consciousness, contemporary culture, politics, and the life of the touring musician. In Feedback, Sharp engages in speculative thought around the origin of consciousness and what the future may hold for humanity with the advent of an Artificial Intelligence. The book is informed by his expansive background as one of the central figures in NYC’s Downtown Scene, as well as his practice as a  composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, visual artist, educator, and studies in physics and genetics. Feedback explores the “Improviser’s Mind” in the context of post-quantum physics, probability, socio-acoustics, and Butoh dance.

Following the reading, Sharp will perform duets with saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis, a virtuoso player and brilliant musical thinker whose compositional strategies are inspired by molecular biology. Lewis has developed a special system for surprising and beautiful music with his Quartet with drummer Chad Taylor, pianist Aruán Ortiz, and bassist Brad Jones. Sharp and Lewis debuted their visceral and exploratory duet at Constellation in Chicago in March 2025.

Elliott Sharp author, 8-string guitarbass, electronics
James Brandon Lewis saxophones, electronics

A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing.

Elliott Sharp is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, visual artist, and author who leads the projects Orchestra Carbon, SysOrk, Tectonics and Terraplane. His compositional strategies have encompassed the use of fractal geometry, chaos theory, algorithms, genetic metaphors, and new techniques for graphic notation to yield work that catalyzes a synesthetic approach to musicmaking as well as functioning as retinal art. In 2015, Sharp was awarded both the Berlin Prize and the Jahrespreis from der Deutscher Schallplatten Kritiks. In 2014 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fellowship from the Center for Transformative Media. He has been featured in the Darmstadt and Huddersfield festivals, New Music Stockholm, Au Printemps-Paris, Hessischer Rundfunk Klangbiennale, and the Venice Biennale.

James Brandon Lewis is a jazz saxophonist and composer whose work is inspired by a vast array of influences and bridges the divide between the avant-garde and popular mainstream. A virtuoso player, Lewis’ playing is raw-toned but measured and isn’t steeped in current jazz-academy values. His “Molecular Systematic Music” is inspired by biological systems which he uses to create unique ensemble music. In his project, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, the dense multi-layered sound features the wily poetry of Thomas Sayers Ellis. Abstraction is Deliverance is the latest album from his quartet with pianist Aruán Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones, and drummer Chad Taylor and featuring eight of his own compositions. Among other awards, Lewis is the recipient of the Balvenie Fellowship.