In 1982, Laswell released Baselines, his solo debut album. collaborated on their rock/hip hop version of "Walk This Way". The album World Destruction paired John Lydon with Afrika Bambaataa years before Aerosmith and Run–D.M.C. Celluloid was an early advocate of hip hop, producing albums by Fab 5 Freddy, GrandMixer D.ST, Phase II, and Afrika Bambaataa. Recordings with the Golden Palominos and production on albums by Shango, Toure Kunda, and Fela Kuti appeared on the label. His association with Celluloid allowed his first forays into "collision music", a term coined by British writer Chris May of Black Music & Jazz Review. He recorded music that was experimental, combining jazz, funk, pop, and R&B, by musicians such as Whitney Houston, Sonny Sharrock, Archie Shepp, Henry Threadgill, and the band Massacre with Fred Frith and Fred Maher. Under the Material name Laswell became the de facto house producer for Celluloid until the label was sold in the 1980s.
He started a recording studio with Martin Bisi and met Jean Karakos, owner of Celluloid Records. He worked with Brian Eno, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Daniel Ponce, Ginger Baker, Peter Brötzmann, Kip Hanrahan, Sonny Sharrock, and with musicians in no wave, a genre that combined avant-garde jazz, funk, and punk. They were usually supplemented by guitarists Cliff Cultreri or Robert Quine. The band consisted of Laswell, keyboardist Michael Beinhorn, and drummer Fred Maher. Material became the backing band for Daevid Allen and New York Gong. He moved into producer Giorgio Gomelsky's loft and became part of a group of musicians that would become the first version of Material. In the late 1970s Laswell moved to New York City, immersing himself in the thriving New York music scene. The show featured musicians he has played with over the years, including members of Praxis and Tabla Beat Science, Pharoah Sanders, Foday Musa Suso, Bootsy Collins, and Catfish Collins.
#Bill laswell discography series
In 2005, Laswell was invited to appear on the PBS series Soundstage. He has done much work for John Zorn's Tzadik Records. Remixes have been done for Sting, Nine Inch Nails, Almamegretta, Scorn, Ozzy Osbourne, and Tori Amos. Fritz is usually Laswell's live engineer of choice, known for live mixing technique. Oz Fritz has occasionally filled the role. Robert Musso has been his chief engineer for over twenty years. These include bassists Jah Wobble, Jonas Hellborg, and Bootsy Collins guitarists Buckethead and Nicky Skopelitis keyboardists Jeff Bova and Bernie Worrell percussionists Aïyb Dieng and Karsh Kale, and musicians from P-Funk. Laswell works frequently with a small group of collaborators.
Most versions of the band Praxis have included guitarist Buckethead, but they have explored different permutations on albums. Material began as a noisy dance music band, but later albums concentrated on hip hop, jazz, or spoken word readings by William S. Although his bands may be credited under the same name and often feature the same roster of musicians, the styles and themes explored on different albums can vary dramatically. The credo of record label Axiom run by Laswell which typifies much of his work is " Nothing is true, everything is permitted". His music draws from funk, world music, jazz, dub and ambient styles. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American composer, bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner.