The Soldier String Quartet was a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, founded by composer and violinist

Dave Soldier David Sulzer (born November 6, 1956) is an American neuroscientist and musician. He is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center in the departments of psychiatry, neurology, and pharmacology. Sulzer's laboratory investigates the interact ...

, that specialized in performing a fusion of classical and popular music. The quartet proved a training ground for many subsequent experimental classical groups and performers, including violinists

Regina Carter Regina Carter (born August 6, 1966) is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of jazz saxophonist James Carter. Early life Carter was born in Detroit and was one of three children in her family. She began piano lessons at the age of t ...

and Todd Reynolds, and performed at venues ranging from the classic punk rock club CBGBs to

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

and the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. From 1984 to 2004, in addition to a large repertoire of original compositions and transcriptions of blues, jazz and hip-hop by Soldier, the group premiered over 100 compositions including major works by

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'', and Dave ...

, Leroy Jenkins,

Phill Niblock Phill Niblock (born October 2, 1933 in Anderson, Indiana) is an American composer, filmmaker, videographer, and director of Experimental Intermedia,Alan Licht, ''Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020'', Blank Form ...

Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

Jonas Hellborg Jonas Hellborg (born 7 June 1958) is a Sweden, Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin, Sultan Khan (musician), Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Ande ...

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...

Alvin Curran Alvin Curran (born December 13, 1938) is an American composer, performer, improviser, sound artist, and writer. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and lives and works in Rome, Italy. He is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard ...

, and

Ivan Wyschnegradsky Ivan Alexandrovich Wyschnegradsky; Is also transliterated as Vïshnegradsky, Wyshnegradsky, Wischnegradsky, Vishnegradsky, or Wishnegradsky (after he emigrated to France, he used "Wyschnegradsky" as spelling for his surname)., group=n ( ; Septe ...

. They also performed and recorded with many rock, pop, and jazz acts including Guided by Voices,

Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks. He is best known for his 1967 album ''Song Cycle (album), Song Cycle'' and for his ...

Jesse Harris Jesse Harris (born October 24, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and guitarist. He has worked with Norah Jones, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Nikki Yanofsky, and Lizz Wright. Early life and education Harris and his twin sist ...

Butch Morris Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (February 10, 1947 – January 29, 2013) was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, ''Conduction'', which he utilized on many recordings. B ...

, Tony Williams, Lambchop,

Bob Neuwirth Robert John Neuwirth (June 20, 1939May 18, 2022) was an American folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and visual artist. He was noted for being the road manager and associate of Bob Dylan, as well as the co-writer of Janis Joplin's hit so ...

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...

Amina Claudine Myers Amina Claudine Myers (born March 21, 1942) is an American jazz pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, and arranger. Biography Born in Blackwell, Arkansas, "Myers was brought up largely by her great-aunt, a schoolteacher, and her great-uncle, a c ...

Plastic People of the Universe The Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) is a Czech rock band from Prague. They are considered the foremost representatives of Prague's underground culture (1968–1989), which defied the Czechoslovakia's Communist regime. Members of the band ...

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

Joanne Brackeen Joanne Brackeen (born Joanne Grogan; July 26, 1938) is an American jazz pianist and music educator. Music career Brackeen was born in Ventura, California, United States, and attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. She was a fan of pop p ...

Myra Melford Myra Melford (born January 5, 1957) is an American avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, Melford was described by the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' as an "explosive player, a virtuoso who shocks and soothes, and who can m ...

Sussan Deyhim Sussan Deyhim (born December 14, 1958) is an Iranian American composer, vocalist, performance artist and activist. She is internationally known for her invention of a unique sonic/vocal language. LA Times quotes her as "One of Iran's most potent ...

, and

Lenny Pickett Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band. From 1973 to 1981 he was a member of Tower of Power. He is known for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using ...

. From 1992 to 1998 the Soldier String Quartet were the touring and recording group with

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

and occasional other members of the

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

often supplemented with steel guitarist

B.J. Cole Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock t ...

. The arrangements for the Cale group, written by Soldier, include his metal violin solos on "

Heartbreak Hotel "Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being g ...

" and "

Fragments of a Rainy Season ''Fragments of a Rainy Season'' is a 1992 live solo album by John Cale, performed at various locations during his 1992 tour. A 16-track DVD, recorded at the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts, now BOZAR) in Brussels, Belgium, ...

". The quartet helped introduce transcription and arrangements of previously unnoted music to the chamber music repertoire, including a CD of arrangements of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

pieces led by flutist

Robert Dick Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist. Life He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good ...

, and album of jazz standards also with Robert Dick, and an album of Delta and

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

Performers

*violins:

, Laura Seaton,

, Marlene Rice, Lisa Terry, Rob Thomas, Mark Feldman, Sam Bardfeld *viola: Ron Lawrence, Martha Mooke, Judith Insell, Drew Tretick *cello: Dawn Avery, Mary Wooten *bass: Ratzo Harris,

Richard Bona Richard Bona (born 28 October 1967) is a Cameroon-born American multi-instrumentalist and singer. Early life Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo was born in Minta, Cameroon, into a family of musicians, which enabled him to start learning music from a y ...

Mark Dresser Mark Dresser (born September 26, 1952) is an American double bass player and composer. Career Dresser was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the 1970s, he was a member of Black Music Infinity led by Stanley Crouch and performed w ...

Kermit Driscoll James "Kermit" DriscollSmith, Steve"Driscoll, Kermit".''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 December 2022. (born March 4, 1956) is an American jazz bassist. He is known for his long association with guitarist Bill Frisell. ...

Jerome Harris Jerome Harris (born April 5, 1953) is an American jazz musician specializing in electric and acoustic bass guitar, electric guitar, voice, and occasionally lap steel and small percussion. He came to prominence in 1978 playing bass guitar and gui ...

*percussion: Michael Suchorsky,

Kevin Norton Kevin Norton (born January 21, 1956) is an American percussionist and composer active in the New York City jazz and contemporary music scenes. He has performed and recorded with a diverse group of musicians, including Anthony Braxton, Paul Dunmal ...

, Valarie Naranjo, Steve Arguelles,

Ben Perowsky Ben Perowsky (born May 12, 1966) is an American drummer, percussionist, composer, and music producer. He is the drummer on stage in the 8 TONY award winning Broadway musical Hadestown. Perowsky leads the Ben Perowsky Trio, Moodswing Orchestra and ...

Jim Black Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music. Career His band AlasNoAxis includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clari ...

Jonathan Kane Jonathan Kane (born November 4, 1956) is an American musician and composer. Coming out of New York's Downtown Music scene of the early 1980s, Kane is known for his work with minimalist composers La Monte Young and Rhys Chatham, and was a found ...

*vocalists: Tiye’ Giraud, Jason White, Jimmy Justice,

Shelley Hirsch Shelley Hirsch (born June 9, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York) is an American vocalist, performance artist, composer, improviser, and writer. She won a DAAD Residency Grant in Berlin 1992, a Prix Futura award in 1993, and multiple awards ...

, Bobby Radcliffe

Discography

* ''Sequence Girls'', Soldier String Quartet (1988, Rift Records) * ''Sojourner Truth'', Soldier String Quartet (1991, Mulatta) * ''She's Lightning When She Smiles'', Soldier String Quartet (1966 NewTone Records) * ''Jazz Standards on Mars'', Soldier String Quartet with

(1997, Enja) * ''Inspect for Damaged Gods'', Soldier String Quartet (2004, Mulatta) *

"In Four Color: music for string quartet", performed by the Soldier String Quartet and the PUBLIQuartet (2015, Mulatta) *

''Last Day on Earth'' (1994, MCA) *

"Tessalation Row" (1987, SST) * Elliott Sharp "Larynx" Elliott Sharp & Carbon (1987, SST) * Elliott Sharp "Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup (1989, SST ) * Elliott Sharp "Twistmap (1991, EarRational) * Elliott Sharp "Cryptoid Fragments" (1993, Extreme Records) * Elliott Sharp "Xeno-Codex" (1996, Tzadik) * Elliott Sharp "Rheo/Umbra" (1998, Zoar) * Elliott Sharp "String Quartets" 1986-1996 (2003, Tzadik) * Guided by Voices Do the Collapse (1999, TVT) * Guided by Voices Hold on Hope (2000, EP, TVT) * Guided by Voices Isolation Drills (2001, TVT) *

''While the Music Lasts'', (2004, Virgin) *

''Walking on Locusts'', (1996, Rykodisc) *

'' Eat/Kiss: Music for the Films by Andy Warhol'', (1997, Rykodisc) *

'', (1992/2016, Rykodisc) *

& Tony Williams ''The Word'', (1992, Island) * Leroy Jenkins '' Themes & Improvisations on the Blues'', (1994, CRI) *

Nicolas Collins Nicolas Collins (born March 26, 1954 in New York City) is a composer of mostly electronic music, a sound artist and writer. He received his BA and MA from Wesleyan University, and his PhD from the University of East Anglia. Upon graduating from ...

''A Dark & Stormy Night'', (1992, Trace Elements) *

''Early Winter'', (1994, XI) *

''Third Stone from the Sun'', (1993, New World)

Performers

Discography

References

Further reading