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{{short description|American musician (born 1955)}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2008}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
{{BLP sources|date=December 2018}}
| Name = Bill Laswell
{{Infobox musical artist
| Img = Bill-laswell.jpg
| Img_capt = Bill Laswell at [[Moers Festival]] 2006, Germany
| name = Bill Laswell
| image = Bill-laswell.jpg
| Img_size = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| Landscape =
| caption = Laswell in 2006
| birth_name = William Otis Laswell
| Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| Birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|2|12|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Salem, Illinois]], U.S.
| Alias =
| genre = {{hlist|[[Avant-garde music|Avant-garde]]<ref name="Ankeny">{{cite web|author=Ankeny, Jason|title=Bill Laswell|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-laswell-mn0000075979/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>}}
| Born = {{Birth date and age|1955|2|12|mf=y}}<br/>[[Salem, Illinois|Salem]], [[Illinois]], [[U.S.]]
| Died =
| occupation = Musician, record producer, label owner
| Instrument = [[Bass guitar|Bass]], [[Guitar]], [[Keyboard instrument|Keyboard]]
| instrument = Bass guitar, guitar, keyboards
| years_active = 1978–present
| Genre = [[Avant-garde music|Avant-garde]], [[art rock]], [[ambient music|ambient]], [[Dub music|dub]], [[Electronic music|electronic]], [[Experimental music|experimental]], [[punk jazz]], [[industrial hip-hop]]
| label = M.O.D. Reloaded<br>M.O.D. Technologies<br>[[Elektra Records|Elektra Musician]]<br>[[Axiom Records|Axiom]]/[[Island Records|Island]]/[[PolyGram]]<br>[[Virgin Records|Virgin]]
| Occupation = [[Musician]], [[Record producer|producer]], [[Arrangement|arranger]]
| associated_acts = Method of Defiance, [[The Golden Palominos]], [[Praxis (band)|Praxis]], [[Massacre (experimental band)|Massacre]], [[Material (band)|Material]], [[Last Exit (free jazz band)|Last Exit]], [[Painkiller (band)|Painkiller]], Ashes, Deadline, [[Tabla Beat Science]], [[Public Image Ltd]], [[Buckethead]], [[Pete Namlook]]
| Years_active =
| Label =
| website = {{URL|billlaswell.net}}
| Associated_acts = [[Method of Defiance]], [[The Golden Palominos]], [[Praxis (band)|Praxis]], [[Massacre (Fred Frith band)|Massacre]], [[Material (band)|Material]], [[Buckethead]], [[Painkiller (band)|Painkiller]], [[Ashes (band)|Ashes]], [[Tabla Beat Science]]
| URL =
| Notable_instruments =
}}
}}


'''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]], [[world music]], [[jazz]], [[Dub music|dub]], and [[ambient music|ambient]] styles.
'''Bill Laswell''' (born<!--PLEASE SEE TALK PAGE BEFORE CHANGING BIRTHDATE--> February 12, 1955 in<!--PLEASE SEE TALK PAGE BEFORE CHANGING BIRTHPLACE--> [[Salem, Illinois]] and raised in [[Albion, Michigan]]) is an American [[bassist]], [[Record producer|producer]] and [[record label]] owner. He is married to [[Ethiopia]]n singer [[Gigi (singer)|Gigi]].


According to music critic Chris Brazier, "Laswell's pet concept is 'collision music' which involves bringing together musicians from wildly divergent but complementary spheres and seeing what comes out."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silent-watcher.net/billlaswell/|title=The Bill Laswell Pages|publisher=Silent-watcher.net|date=March 22, 2012|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref> 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. [[Material (band)|Material]] began as a noisy [[dance music]] band, but later albums concentrated on [[hip hop]], jazz, or [[spoken word]] readings by [[William S. Burroughs]]. Most versions of the band [[Praxis (band)|Praxis]] have included guitarist [[Buckethead]], but they have explored different permutations on albums.
Laswell ranks among the most prolific of musicians, being involved in hundreds of recordings with many musicians from all over the world. Laswell's music draws upon many different [[musical genre|genres]], most notably [[funk]], various [[world music]], [[jazz]], [[Dub music|dub]] and [[ambient music|ambient]] styles. He has also played or produced music from the noisier, more aggressive end of the rock spectrum, such as [[hardcore punk]] and [[heavy metal music|metal]].


== Early life ==
According to music critic Chris Brazier, "Laswell’s pet concept is 'collision music' which involves bringing together musicians from wildly divergent but complementary spheres and seeing what comes out."[http://www.silent-watcher.net/billlaswell/discography/babz/ritualbeatingsystem.html] The credo of one record label run by Laswell, and which typifies much of his work, is “Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted”. Though projects arranged by Laswell 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: [[Material (band)|Material]] began as a noisy [[dance music]] project, but subsequent releases have been centered around [[hip hop]], [[jazz]], or backing [[spoken word]] readings by beat generation icon [[William S. Burroughs]]. Similarly, most versions of [[Praxis (band)|Praxis]] have featured guitarist [[Buckethead]], but have explored different permutations with each new album.
Bill Laswell was born on February 12, 1955, in [[Salem, Illinois]]. As a child, his family relocated frequently, exposing Laswell to a variety of regional cultural and musical traditions.{{cn|date=December 2024}}


In his teenage years, Laswell's family settled in Michigan, an area with a very diverse music scene during the 1960s and 1970s,<ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Laswell |url=https://theshfl.com/guide/Bill-Laswell |website=Shfl |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref> from Motown Records to Detroit's burgeoning punk and rock scenes. During this time, Laswell taught himself to play bass guitar, and he developed an unconventional approach to the instrument, experimenting with its potential to create soundscapes rather than merely support rhythm.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fernando |first1=S.H. |title=Bill Laswell: An Introduction |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/03/bill-laswell-introduction |website=Red Bull Music Academy |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref>
Though some artists have chafed against Laswell's distinctive recording and production style — most noticeably some of his for hire production gigs including [[Motörhead]], [[Swans (band)|Swans]] and [[White Zombie]] — many other collaborations, such as with pianist [[Herbie Hancock]] and singer [[Iggy Pop]] have been lengthier and recurring.
==Career==
{{BLP sources section|date=October 2022}}
===Early years===
Laswell began performing as a bass guitarist in R&B and funk bands in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and saw shows that combined genres, such as Iggy and the Stooges, [[MC5]], and [[Funkadelic]]. He was also influenced by jazz musicians [[John Coltrane]], [[Albert Ayler]], and [[Miles Davis]]. The live jazz performances and experimental rock acts of Michigan's music festivals encouraged him towards musical experimentation and non-traditional forms, including African drumming, Indian ragas, and Middle Eastern maqams. Later, he was intrigued by the avant-garde and experimental movements of the 1970s, including the works of minimalist composers and electronic music pioneers. He began experimenting with effects pedals and early recording techniques, reflecting his broader artistic philosophy, that music could transcend traditional categorizations and connect diverse cultural and sonic elements.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Prasad |first1=Anil |title=Bill Laswell - Sonic Collage |url=https://www.innerviews.org/inner/laswell-1 |website=Innerviews |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref>


===New York and Material===
==Biography==
In the late 1970s Laswell moved to New York City,<ref name="Ankeny"/> immersing himself in the thriving New York music scene. He moved into producer [[Giorgio Gomelsky]]'s loft and became part of a group of musicians that would become the first version of [[Material (band)|Material]]. Material became the backing band for [[Daevid Allen]]<ref name="Ankeny"/> and New York Gong. The band consisted of Laswell, keyboardist [[Michael Beinhorn]], and drummer [[Fred Maher]]. They were usually supplemented by guitarists Cliff Cultreri or [[Robert Quine]].
===Beginnings===
Though starting out as a guitar player, he soon switched to bass. Laswell got his earliest professional experience as a bassist with [[funk]] groups in and around [[Detroit, Michigan]] as well as [[Ann Arbor]]. He often would see shows in Detroit that put together acts such as [[Iggy and the Stooges]] (he would work with Pop throughout his career starting in the mid ‘80s), [[MC5]] and [[Funkadelic]] (many of whose members are part of his stable of musicians).


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.<ref name="New Grove">{{cite book|author=Gilbert, Mark|editor=Kernfeld, Barry|title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz|year=2002|publisher=Grove's Dictionaries|location=New York|isbn=1-56159-284-6|page=552|volume=2|edition=2nd}}</ref>
Seeing these differing styles of music in his frequent trips to Detroit, as well as being rooted in the African-American music that he grew up immersed in have clearly had an influence on Laswell’s music. His exposure to jazz musicians like [[John Coltrane]], [[Albert Ayler]] and particularly [[Miles Davis]]’ electric experiments of the mid-1960s to mid-'70s, have also clearly had an impact on his thinking. Laswell’s refusal to pigeon-hole himself, his music, or even the people he works with is arguably his greatest asset as a musician and producer.


He started a recording studio with [[Martin Bisi]] and met Jean Karakos, owner of [[Celluloid Records]]. Under the Material name Laswell became the ''de facto'' house producer for Celluloid until the label was sold in the 1980s. 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 (experimental band)|Massacre]] with Fred Frith and Fred Maher. His association with Celluloid allowed his first forays into "collision music", a term coined by British writer Chris May of ''Black Music & Jazz Review''. Recordings with [[the Golden Palominos]] and production on albums by [[Shango]], [[Toure Kunda]], and [[Fela Kuti]] appeared on the label. Celluloid was an early advocate of hip hop, producing albums by [[Fab 5 Freddy]], [[GrandMixer D.ST]], [[Blaze (band)|Phase II]], and [[Afrika Bambaataa]]. The album ''World Destruction'' paired [[John Lydon]] with Afrika Bambaataa years before [[Aerosmith]] and [[Run–D.M.C.]] collaborated on their rock/hip hop version of "Walk This Way".
===Move to New York===
In the late 1970’s Laswell made the move to New York city, immersing himself in the thriving New York scene. He moved into famed producer [[Giorgio Gomelsky|Giorgio Gomelsky’s]] loft and became part of a group of musicians that would eventually become the first (and only even remotely consistent) incarnation of [[Material (band)|Material]].


In 1982, Laswell released ''Baselines'', his solo debut album. A year later, he had a breakthrough with "Rockit", a song he co-wrote and produced for Herbie Hancock's album ''[[Future Shock (Herbie Hancock album)|Future Shock]]''.<ref name="Ankeny"/> He played bass guitar and co-wrote other songs on the album, leading to collaborations with Hancock through the 2000s. He won a Grammy Award for producing Hancock's next album, ''Sound-System''.<ref name="Ankeny"/>
Aside from Laswell’s first known recording on one side of a [[Michael Blaise and the Cheaters]] 7” called ''Scoring Power'' in 1978, Laswell and Material became the backing band for [[Daevid Allen]] and [[New York Gong]], appearing on some recordings and embarking on a small tour. Material, primarily consisting of Laswell, keyboardist [[Michael Beinhorn]] and drummer [[Fred Maher]], also cut a number of 12” releases for Red Records and others. They were usually supplemented by guitarists, notably either [[Cliff Cultreri]] and occasionally [[Robert Quine]]. Living in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]] also put Laswell at the center of a group of musicians both up and coming such as [[John Zorn]] and established, such as [[Fred Frith]] and [[Brian Eno]]. His persistence in asking Eno to work with him paid off in the form of contributions to Eno and [[David Byrne (musician)|David Byrne’s]] seminal album ''[[My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (album)|My Life in the Bush of Ghosts]]'' as well as Eno’s own ''On Land''. Brian Eno also contributed a song to the Material album, ''One Down''.


He became a member of the band [[Last Exit (free jazz band)|Last Exit]] in 1986 with Peter Brötzmann, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Sonny Sharrock.<ref name="Ankeny"/> Aside from one album that Laswell cobbled together in the studio, the band was primarily a live one, showing up at gigs with no rehearsal. The first time the four members played together was on stage at their first show.
===Celluloid Records===
Within a few years of moving to New York, Laswell soon founded a recording studio with producer/engineer [[Martin Bisi]] (of later indie rock renown) and hooked up with Jean Karakos and his fledgling label [[Celluloid Records]]. Under the Material moniker (now also a production unit consisting of Laswell and Beinhorn – Maher being long gone - and by 1984 consisting solely of Laswell) Laswell became the ''de facto'' house producer for Celluloid until the sale of the label in the later ‘80s. During this fruitful time in the early to mid 80s, Laswell was able to record some of his Material excursions (which ran the gamut from experimental jazz/funk to pop and R&B, featuring everyone from avant-jazz figures [[Henry Threadgill]] and [[Sonny Sharrock]] to [[Archie Shepp]] and pop star [[Whitney Houston]]) as well as projects such as [[Massacre (Fred Frith band)|Massacre]], with Fred Frith and Fred Maher.


Laswell produced albums for [[Sly and Robbie]], [[Mick Jagger]], [[PiL]], [[Motörhead]], [[Ramones]], [[Stevie Salas]], [[Iggy Pop]] and [[Yoko Ono]]. Many of these bands afforded Laswell the opportunity to hire his working crew to record on more mainstream records. Sly and Robbie hired him to produce their 1985 album ''Language Barrier'' and 1987 album ''[[Rhythm Killers]]''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Greene, Jo-Ann|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sly-robbie-mn0000751592|title=Sly & Robbie| publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>
His association with Celluloid allowed some of his first forays into this so-called ‘collision music' - the term was coined for Laswell by the British writer Chris May, then editor of Black Music & Jazz Review and later a Celluloid staff member - and forays into world music. Recordings with [[The Golden Palominos]] and production on albums by [[Shango]], [[Toure Kunda]] and [[Fela Kuti]] all appeared on the label. Celluloid also released a slew of 12” devoted to Hip-Hop, becoming a pre-cursor to the popularity the form enjoyed starting in the mid 80s. [[Fab 5 Freddy]], [[Phase II]] and [[Afrika Bambaataa]] all appeared on the label. Criminally forgotten, Laswell also put together the very successful 12” ''World Destruction'' which paired [[Public Image Ltd.|PiL’s]] [[John Lydon]] with Afrika Bambaataa – years before the Run DMC/Aerosmith collaboration broke down the rock/hip-hop barrier. 1982 also saw Laswell’s solo debut, ''Baselines''.


===Running Axiom===
Also recording a Laswell-helmed solo album for Celluloid was [[Ginger Baker]] whom Laswell coaxed out of semi-retirement, giving the drummer's career a new boost. He likewise brought [[Sonny Sharrock]] out of semi-retirement and produced some of the guitarist's most acclaimed recordings starting with the solo LP ''Guitar''.
[[Island Records]] founder [[Chris Blackwell]] gave him the opportunity to begin a label in 1990, thus forming [[Axiom (record label)|Axiom Records]]. In addition to albums by Material that included Sly and Robbie, William S. Burroughs, [[Bootsy Collins]], [[Wayne Shorter]], and [[Bernie Worrell]], he produced and released albums by Ginger Baker, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Sonny Sharrock, [[Nicky Skopelitis]], and [[Umar Bin Hassan]]. Among the studio-based albums, Palestinian [[oud]] and violinist [[Simon Shaheen]] recorded an album of music by Egyptian composer [[Mohammed Abdel Wahab]]. Gambian virtuoso [[Foday Musa Suso]] recorded an album of dance music with his electric [[Kora (instrument)|Kora]], and Turkish [[Bağlama|saz]] master Talip Oezkan recorded an album. [[Master Musicians of Jajouka]] recorded an album in their village in the [[Rif]] Mountains. There were albums by [[Mandinka people|Mandinka]] and [[Fula people|Fulani]] recorded at Suso's family compound in [[Gambia]] and [[Gnawa]] music from Morocco.


Praxis featured guitarist Buckethead on ''[[Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)|Transmutation]]'' with Bootsy Collins, [[Bryan Mantia]], Bernie Worrell, and [[Afrika Baby Bam]] from the [[Jungle Brothers]]. The album blended funk grooves and heavy metal riffs with many tracks co-written by Laswell.
===Breakthrough===
Laswell's artistic and commercial breakthrough came via jazz icon [[Herbie Hancock]]'s ''[[Future Shock (Herbie Hancock album)|Future Shock]]'' album (1983); Laswell produced the album, played bass on all the songs, and co-wrote most of the material. Its track "[[Rockit]]" has frequently been regarded as a pivotal moment in the influence of [[hip hop music|hip hop]] and [[turntablism]] (via [[Grand Mixer D.ST]]). The track was the first hit song to feature turntable [[scratching]]. The collaboration has led to three other albums by [[Herbie Hancock]], as well as numerous Hancock appearances on Laswell productions through the early 2000s.


''[[Funkcronomicon]]'' included previously released tracks by Praxis and Skopelitis and tracks with members of Parliament-Funkadelic. [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]], Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, and the last recordings of [[Eddie Hazel]] are featured prominently. The album includes [[Grand Mixer DXT|DXT]], Umar Bin Hassan, [[Abiodun Oyewole]] and Torture.<ref>[http://music.hyperreal.org/labels/axiom/dub.html Axiom Dub: Mysteries of Creation], Hyperreal Archive</ref> Laswell remixed the Axiom catalog for ''Axiom Ambient'', blending seemingly disparate tracks, releasing some of the music for ''Sample Material – International Free Zone'', a [[sampling (music)|sample library]] for other musicians to use as material.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.hyperreal.org/labels/axiom/imports.html|title=Bill Laswell Axiom Discography|publisher=Music.hyperreal.org|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silent-watcher.net/billlaswell/discography/misc/samplematerial.html|title=Bill Laswell Discography|website=www.silent-watcher.net|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>
===Post-Celluloid '80s===
Concurrent to and post-Celluloid, Laswell became a hot producer in demand, due to the success of Hancock's "[[Rockit]]". The often lucrative pay-to-produce nature of some of these projects helped fund much of Laswell's work.


===Other labels===
The remainder of the 80’s saw Laswell produce albums for people like [[Sly & Robbie]] (whom Laswell continues to work with) [[Mick Jagger]], [[PiL]], Motörhead, [[The Ramones]], [[Iggy Pop]] and [[Yoko Ono]]. Many of these projects afforded Laswell the opportunity to bring in some of his normal working crew to record on more mainstream records. PiL's 1986 release ''Album'' (later ''CD'') has no notes on who performed, but over time, various people have confirmed that no PiL personnel other than singer [[John Lydon]] were involved, some of the musicians included drummers [[Tony Williams]] and [[Ginger Baker]], bassists [[Jonas Hellborg]], Laswell himself, guitarist [[Steve Vai]] and others. Lydon claims that Miles Davis actually recorded parts for the album which were never used.
[[Subharmonic (record label)|Subharmonic]], conceived by Laswell and ex-Celluloid A&R Robert Soares, though not owned by Laswell, was essentially a vehicle for his projects, most in the ambient or ambient-dub categories. The label licensed a few releases from European labels for American re-release, notably ''Psychonavigation'' with [[Pete Namlook]] and ''Cymatic Scan'' with [[Tetsu Inoue]] from Pete Namlook's FAX label; ''Somnific Flux'' with [[Mick Harris]] and ''Cold Summer'' by [[Lull (band)|Lull]] from the Sentrax label. Other collaborators included [[Jonah Sharp]] and [[Terre Thaemlitz]]. The label also released albums by [[Painkiller (band)|Painkiller]], Praxis, and Divination, an ambient dub project by Laswell. A sub-label called Strata was created with five releases in a more experimental dub/noise/ambient vein. Each of these releases (Death Cube K, Cypher 7, Azonic, and two under his alias Automaton) came in a black jewel case with the name of the project and album title printed on the front.


Three other short-lived labels were created after the demise of the Subharmonic deal. One was Meta, which was intended to be a [[spoken word]] label. The second label, Submeta, managed four releases before folding. Meta, formed with Janet Rienstra, released only one album, ''Baptism of Solitude'' with novelist [[Paul Bowles]] reading excerpts from his work over soundscapes by Laswell. Meta would appear periodically, distributed by other labels, over the next few years until it returned as a spiritual/yogic label run by Rienstra. The third label, Black Arc, was an associated label of [[Rykodisc]] focusing on "Black Rock, Cyber Funk, and Future Blues", according to a sampler. The label featured members of P-Funk on most of the albums and released albums by Bootsy Collins (under the name "Zillatron"), Bernie Worrell (Japan-only), Mutiny ([[Jerome Brailey]]), and [[Billy Bass Nelson|Billy Bass]].
Laswell has stated in numerous interviews that he met with Davis a number of times and discussed working together, but busy schedules kept them from arranging such a recording before Davis’ death, though Laswell's chief engineer<ref>[http://mussomusic.com/disco_date.html musso music discography<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> reports an unreleased Davis recording session from 1986.


''Charged'' (1999) by [[Eraldo Bernocchi]] and [[Toshinori Kondo]] was released by Laswell's label Innerythmic. After a brief inactive period, the label restarted in 2001, releasing over the next few years and albums by Nicky Skopelitis, [[Raoul Björkenheim]], [[James Blood Ulmer]], [[Shin Terai]], and Gonervill. Innerhythmic also released a live recording by Praxis and reissued Black Arc albums from the 1990, including Zillatron, The Last Poets' ''Holy Terror'' and [[Buddy Miles]]' ''Hell & Back''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raoulbjorkenheim.com|title=Raoul Björkenheim's website|publisher=Raoulbjorkenheim.com|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>
1986 saw the formation of [[Last Exit (Free jazz band)|Last Exit]]. Laswell and [[Sonny Sharrock]] co-founded the metal and hardcore punk-flavored free jazz supergroup along with drummer [[Ronald Shannon Jackson]] and saxophone player [[Peter Brötzmann]]. Aside from one album that Laswell cobbled together in-studio, the band was primarily a live one. The group showed up at gigs and played wild sets with no rehearsal. The first time the four members played together was on stage at their first show.


Laswell moved his studio to [[West Orange, New Jersey]] and called it Orange Music Sound Studios. Under Palm's umbrella, though, four albums and a DVD set were released, including a studio album and a live 2-disc set from [[Tabla Beat Science]] centered on [[tabla]] virtuoso [[Zakir Hussain (musician)|Zakir Hussain]], son of [[Alla Rakha]]. The album included [[Karsh Kale]], [[Trilok Gurtu]], [[Ustad Sultan Khan]], and [[Talvin Singh]]. This group has performed in the US, Lebanon, and Japan. Laswell, Kale, Kahn, and Hussain are usually supplemented by other musicians, which have included [[Gigi (singer)|Gigi]], [[DJ Disk]], [[Serj Tankian]] from [[System of a Down]], [[Sussan Deyhim]], and artist Petulia Mattioli. In 2001 ''Life Space Death'' was released with Japanese trumpeter [[Toshinori Kondo]], Laswell on bass, guitar, and keyboards, and words by the [[14th Dalai Lama]]<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r608980|label=Life Space Death}}</ref> interviewed by Kondo.<ref>''Life Space Death'', album sleeve notes</ref> At the request of Blackwell, Laswell oversaw the debut album by Ethiopian singer Gigi for Palm Pictures with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Laswell. He also produced ''Abyssinia Infinite'' and ''Gold & Wax''.
The later part of the ‘80s also saw Laswell completely sever ties with the Celluloid label, which has since been sold several times: the catalog’s various releases seem to be in constant reissue on one label or another. Many of the labels are known for poor practice in securing rights to recordings and are often rumored to not be paying royalties to anyone other than whomever is licensing the material to them.


Laswell has stated in interviews that he met with Miles Davis a number of times and discussed working together, but busy schedules kept them from arranging such a recording before Davis' death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mussomusic.com/disco_date.html|title=MussoMusic discography|publisher=MussoMusic|access-date=July 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714135233/http://mussomusic.com/disco_date.html|archive-date=July 14, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He remixed some of Davis's music for ''[[Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974]]'' (Axiom, 1998).<ref name="New Grove"/>
===Greenpoint Studios, Axiom Records and the '90s===
1990 marked a watershed year in Laswell’s control and ability to produce high-quality recordings controlled by himself. In addition to purchasing his own studio (Greenpoint Studio in [[Brooklyn]]), [[Chris Blackwell]], founder of [[Island Records]] and longtime Laswell booster, gave Laswell the opportunity to begin a new label with the backing of Island Records. Thus, [[Axiom Records]] was born.


===New century, new labels===
Axiom played the ‘Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted’ credo to its fullest. With a sizable budget and minimal interference from Island executives, Laswell had the means to make arguably some of the most important music of his career. In addition to albums by Material that featured players ranging from [[Sly & Robbie]], [[William S. Burroughs]], [[Wayne Shorter]], [[Bootsy Collins]] and [[Bernie Worrell]], he produced and released albums by drummer and [[Ornette Coleman]] acolyte [[Ronald Shannon Jackson]], [[Sonny Sharrock]] (featuring [[Pharoah Sanders]] and [[Elvin Jones]]), Laswell main-stay [[Nicky Skopelitis]], [[The Last Poets|Last Poets']] [[Umar Bin Hassan]] and [[Ginger Baker]].
He signed a contract with [[Sanctuary Records]] that led to the creation of his label Nagual. He worked in the [[drum and bass]] genre, starting with ''Brutal Calling'' credited to Bill Laswell vs. [[Submerged (DJ)|Submerged]] that was released by [[Avant Records|Avant]] in 2004. He and Submerged worked together again on ''The Only Way to Go is Down'' (2006) under the name Method of Defiance. After this album, they assembled producers in drum and bass to collaborate with musicians from jazz. [[Evol Intent]], Future Prophecies, and SPL recorded with Buckethead, Herbie Hancock, and [[Pharoah Sanders]].<ref name="Ankeny"/>


In 2010, Laswell created the label [[M.O.D. Technologies]]. Its first releases were the albums ''Jahbulon'' and ''Incunabula'' by Method of Defiance and ''Mesgana Ethiopia'' by Material with Gigi.<ref name="Ankeny"/>
Axiom also released a slew of well-produced recordings from musicians around the world. Among the studio based albums, Palestinian oud and violin prodigy [[Simon Shaheen]] recorded an album of music by Egyptian composer [[M.A. Wahab]]. Gambian virtuoso [[Foday Musa Suso]] recorded an album of futuristic dance music featuring his electric Kora and Turkish saz master [[Talip Ozkan]] recorded an album. The real coup was in the series of pristine field recordings that Axiom allowed Laswell the ability to produce. A major-league budget and new, more portable recording technology gave rise to recordings by the [[Master Musicians of Jajouka]] (done in their village in the Rif Mountains), Mandinka and Fulani music (recorded at Suso’s family compound in the Gambia) and Gnawa music from Morocco.


Along with live dates around the world with [[Massacre (experimental band)|Massacre]], [[Material (band)|Material]], Method of Defiance, and [[Painkiller (band)|Painkiller]], Laswell travels to Japan every year for recordings and live dates, including with Tokyo Rotation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/music/bill-laswell-presents-tokyo-rotation|title=Bill Laswell presents Tokyo Rotation|magazine=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]}}</ref>
The most successful project and one of the few still in print on Axiom – where the first release was produced, was [[Praxis (band)|Praxis]]. Originally the moniker that an experimental Celluloid 12” by Laswell was released under in 1984, Praxis now became a full-fledged band, featuring enigmatic guitarist [[Buckethead]]. The release, ''[[Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)]]'' featured Buckethead, drummer [[Bryan Mantia|Brain]] (whom Laswell worked with previously with the [[Limbomaniacs]]), [[Bernie Worrell]], [[Bootsy Collins]] and [[Af Next Man Flip]] ([[Afrika Baby Bam]] from the [[Jungle Brothers]]). The album was a racous blend of funk grooves and metal riffs, overseen with many tracks co-written by Laswell. The project has spawned other releases, never with the same line-up twice, generally consisting of the core trio of Buckethead, Brain and Laswell supplemented by others.


In September 2017, Bill Laswell was interviewed by the Data.Wave webzine.<ref name="Data.Wave">{{cite web |url=http://www.datawv.com/2017/09/interview-bill-laswell.html |title=Interview for Data.Wave webzine}}</ref>
1994/1995 saw a bit of a slow-down in Axiom’s output, but a number of genre-shattering 2CD compilation sets were released. Axiom Funk’s ''[[Funkcronomicon]]'' saw previously released tracks by Praxis and Nicky Skopelitis paired with a host of tracks mainly featuring various members of the [[Parliament/Funkadelic]] crew. [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]], [[Bootsy Collins]], [[Bernie Worrell]] and the last recordings of [[Eddie Hazel]] are featured prominently. The album also features contributions from [[The Last Poets|Last Poets']] [[Umar Bin Hassan]] and [[Abiodun Oyewole]] as well as Torture (now [[Sensational]]) and [[Grand Mixer DXT|DXT]] (formerly D.ST). Axiom Dub was another compilation featuring tracks in a new-skool dub style from Laswell along with [[The Orb]], [[Jah Wobble]], [[Sly & Robbie]], [[Mad Professor]], [[Techno Animal]], the WordSound crew, WE and others.<ref>[http://music.hyperreal.org/labels/axiom/dub.html Axiom Dub: Mysteries of Creation], Hyperreal Archive</ref> Laswell also remixed the whole of the Axiom catalog into a 2 disc ambient mix called ''Axiom Ambient'', subtley blending seemingly disparate tracks from the catalog into a seamless in the mix translation. Laswell released some of the music recorded in those sessions as a [[Music sample|sample library]] for other musicians to use as raw material when making recordings, on a CD he titled ''Sample Material - International Free Zone''.<ref>[http://music.hyperreal.org/labels/axiom/imports.html Bill Laswell Axiom Discography]</ref><ref>[http://www.silent-watcher.net/billlaswell/discography/xasamp/samplematerial.html Review and track listing of Laswell's "Sample Material" CD]</ref>


In November 2018, he performed in [[Dave Douglas (trumpeter)|Dave Douglas Uplift]] band at the [[London Jazz Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Jazz Now, Dave Douglas|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00016tr|publisher=[[BBC Radio 3]]|access-date=July 16, 2019|date=November 19, 2018}}</ref>
The ‘90s also saw a number of other labels owned by or thoroughly associated with Laswell, come and go. The most prolific of these was Subharmonic. Though not owned by Laswell, the label was essentially a release house for his projects, most of which fell into the ambient or ambient-dub categories. The label also licensed a few releases from European labels for American re-release, notably ''Psychonavigation'' (with [[Pete Namlook]]) and ''Cymatic Scan'' (with [[Tetsu Inoue]]) from Pete Namlook's FAX label, and ''Somnific Flux'' (with [[Mick Harris]] – there as MJ Harris) and ''Cold Summer'' (by [[Lull]] – a [[Mick Harris]] project) from the [[Sentrax]] label. Other collaborators included [[Jonah Sharp]] and [[Terre Thaemlitz]]. The label also released albums from [[Painkiller (band)|Painkiller]], [[Praxis (band)|Praxis]] and Laswell’s new project, [[Divination (band)|Divination]], an [[Ambient music#Ambient dub|ambient dub]] project (first appearing almost as a project title, and then an umbrella moniker for releases of ambient compilations). Additionally, a sub-label called [[Strata]] was created containing five releases mostly in what could be deemed a more experimental dub/noise/ambient vein. Each of these releases ([[Death Cube K]], [[Cypher 7]], [[Azonic]] and two under his alias Automaton) came housed in a solid black jewel case with the name of the project and album title printed on the front.


Laswell suffered health problems which required hospitalization in December 2022 and prolonged recovery,<REF NAME="MILKOWSKI">{{cite web|author=[[Bill Milkowski]] |title=The Trials and Triumphs of Bill Laswell |date=12 Feb 2024 |url=https://billmilkowski.substack.com/the-trials-and-triumphs-of-bill-laswell |access-date=3 July 2024}}</REF> which jeopardized his tenure of Orange Music Studio.<REF NAME="QUIETUS">{{cite web|author=Zachary Lipez |title=The Strange World Of... Bill Laswell |date=21 Feb 2024 |url=https://thequietus.com/interviews/strange-world-of/bill-laswell-interview |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=[[The Quietus]]}}</REF>
Three other very short-lived labels were also created around the time of the demise of the Subharmonic deal. Meta, which was intended to be a spoken word label, and SubMeta. Submeta managed four releases before folding. Meta (co-created by [[Janet Rienstra]]) released only one album, ''Baptism of Solitude,'' - of [[Paul Bowles]] reading excerpts from his work over soundscapes by Laswell. Meta would appear periodically again, distributed by other labels, over the next few years until it came back in full as its own entity as a spiritual/yogic label run by Janet Rienstra, though Laswell still heavily figures in Meta’s output. [[Black Arc]] was also created as an associated label of [[Rykodisc]], focusing on ‘Black Rock, Cyber Funk and Future Blues’, according to a released sampler. The label featured a number of [[P-Funk]] alumni on most of the albums, as well as releasing albums by [[Parliament/Funkadelic]] members Bootsy Collins (under his [[Zillatron]] moniker), Bernie Worrell (Japan-only), [[Mutiny]] ([[Jerome Brailey]]) and [[Billy Bass]].


Prior to his health problems, Laswell had been recording as a duo with his long-time on-and-off collaborator Zorn releasing the albums ''[[The Cleansing (John Zorn and Bill Laswell album)|The Cleansing]]'' (2022) and ''Memoria'' (2023) on Zorn's [[Tzadik Records|Tzadik]] label.<ref name="TZADIK4037">{{cite web |url=http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=4037 |title=John Zorn-Bill Laswell : The Cleansing |publisher=[[Tzadik Records]] |date=January 2022 |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref><ref name="TZADIK4042">{{cite web |url=http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=4042 |title=John Zorn-Bill Laswell : Memoria |publisher=[[Tzadik Records]] |date=May 2023 |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> His first venture during his health recovery in 2024 was a new Painkiller album titled ''Samsara'' with Zorn and original drummer Harris, although for this recording Harris' percussion is electronic and Zorn then Laswell layered up their contributions separately.<ref name="NYT20241111">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/arts/music/painkiller-john-zorn-bill-laswell-mick-harris-samsara.html |title=The Jazz-Metal Trio PainKiller’s Classic Lineup Revs Up Again |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |author=Hank Shteamer |date=11 November 2024 |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref><ref name="TZADIK9316">{{cite web |url=http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=9316 |title=PainKiller : Samsara |publisher=[[Tzadik Records]] |date=November 2024 |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref>
===Late '90s===
Always one to be courting controversy due to his alleged radical treatment of music, Laswell released two albums of remixes from dead artists – [[Bob Marley]]'s ''Dreams of Freedom'' on Axiom and [[Miles Davis]]’ ''Panthalassa''. The first contained airy, ambient dub translations of some of Marley’s Island catalog, largely sans Marley’s voice. Chris Blackwell, largely the man responsible for bringing Marley to the masses in the ‘70s requested the album as part of a planned series of remix albums by various producers who were rooted in the reggae/dub tradition. Blackwell’s departure from Island killed any further albums.


===Collaborators===
For ''Panthalassa'', Laswell took the tapes from Miles’ ‘electric period’ and re-imagined them. The impetus for the project being that the original releases were just mixes made by Teo Macero from long in studio sessions. Nothing originally released was necessarily exactly what was done in the studio, but rather a cut-up and remix to begin with. Needless to say, critic and fan responses varied wildly with Laswell and Macero conducting a public feud in the media.
Laswell works frequently with a small group of collaborators. These include bassists [[Jah Wobble]], [[Josh Werner]], [[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. [[Robert Musso]] has been his chief engineer for over twenty years. Oz Fritz has occasionally filled the role. Fritz is usually Laswell's live engineer of choice, known for live mixing technique. Remixes have been done for [[Sting (musician)|Sting]], [[Nine Inch Nails]], [[Almamegretta]], [[Scorn (band)|Scorn]], [[Ozzy Osbourne]], and [[Tori Amos]]. He has done much work for John Zorn's [[Tzadik Records]].


In 2005, Laswell was invited to appear on the PBS series [[Soundstage (TV series)|''Soundstage'']]. 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]].
The late ‘90s saw two other major changes. As noted before, Chris Blackwell (who had sold Island to Polygram some years before, but retained an active role running the label) left Island Records. Although he took the Axiom imprint with him to his new [[Palm Pictures]] label, the back catalog stayed with Island. Many of the albums are now out of print, efforts to obtain master recordings and new distribution has been unsuccessful. The other change came in the form of studio space. Laswell, seeing that Greenpoint had turned into a sort of hangout, living space and catch all for hanger-ons moved his studio to a new space in West Orange, New Jersey, now calling it [[Orange Music]] or alternately, [[Orange Music Sound Studios]].


Laswell worked with Sony Creative Software on a box set loop library called ''The Bill Laswell Collection''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.magix.com/?cnt=_loops_billlaswell&cat=LoopsSamples&lang=en|title=Sound Series – Loops & Samples|publisher=Sony Creative Software|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>
===Into the 21st Century===
With [[Palm Pictures]] slowly moving into film and away from music with the changing landscape of the industry, Laswell lost a major supporter of his more high-concept albums as well as the Axiom imprint. Under Palm’s umbrella, though, four highly regarded albums and a DVD set were released. Of those releases there was a DVD set, a studio release and a live 2-disc set from [[Tabla Beat Science]]. [[Tabla Beat Science]] is a project that revolves somewhat around the tabla virtuoso [[Zakir Hussain (musician)|Zakir Hussain]], son of the late [[Alla Rakha]]. The studio release also featured [[Karsh Kale]], [[Trilok Gurtu]], [[Ustad Sultan Khan]] and [[Talvin Singh]]. This very popular and well received grouping has become a primarily live project playing everywhere from the US to Beirut to Japan over the years. The core of Laswell, Kale, Kahn and Hussain are usually supplemented by other musicians, which have included at various times [[Gigi]], [[DJ Disk]], [[Serj Tankian]] from [[System of a Down]], [[Sussan Deyhim]], visual artists [[Petulia Mattioli]] and others. 2001 saw the release of the album ''Life Space Death'' with Japanese trumpeter [[Toshinori Kondo]], Laswell on bass, guitar and keyboards and words by His Holiness [[The 14th Dalai Lama]]<ref>{{Allmusic|id=10:gifwxq8aldke|label=Life Space Death}}</ref>, interviewed by Kondo<ref>''Life Space Death'', album sleeve notes</ref>.


He has also worked with [[Eraldo Bernocchi]] and [[Mick Harris]] on a project called ''Equations of Eternity'', which is an ambient music project started in 1995 by Eraldo. Since its members live in separate parts of the world (Mick Harris in England; Bill Laswell in the US; and Eraldo Bernocchi in Italy), the project has been predominantly studio-based, with its members recording music in their respective countries.
At the request of Chris Blackwell, 2001 also had Laswell overseeing Ethiopian singer Gigi’s debut release for Palm Pictures. Supplementing Gigi’s multilingual, Ethiopian rooted vocals with a vast array of well respected musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Laswell himself, they created a strong release that was very well-received. Laswell and Gigi also became romantically involved and were later married. She has figured in a number of his releases and concerts over the years, and he has produced further outings by Gigi such as her [[Abyssinia Infinite]] grouping and her second solo release for Palm, ''Gold & Wax''.


==Discography==
1999 also saw the first release on Laswell’s new label, called [[Innerythmic]] ([[Eraldo Bernocchi]] and [[Toshinori Kondo]]’s ''Charged'' project). After a brief inactive period, the label re-started again in earnest in 2001, releasing over the next few years a slew of innovative albums from the likes [[Nicky Skopelitis]]/[[Raoul Bjorkenheim]], [[James Blood Ulmer]], [[Shin Terai]] and [[Gonervill]] among others. Innerhythmic also released a live Praxis recording and re-issued some of the Black Arc releases from the ‘90s including [[Zillatron]], [[The Last Poets]] ''Holy Terror'' and [[Buddy Miles]]’ ''Hell & Back''. The label is not officially defunct but has gone through a period of recent inactivity.
{{main|Bill Laswell discography}}


==See also==
Though touching on the realm of [[drum and bass]] in the ‘90s with his ''Oscillations'' releases and the compilation Submerged: Tetragramaton, the last few years have seen Laswell step up his work in this area. Starting with ''Brutal Calling'', a hard drum 'n' bass release with [[OHM Resistance]] label owner [[Submerged]] (DJ/producer Kurt Gluck), a series of releases and live dates have cropped up. Laswell’s new project in this vein is [[Method of Defiance]]. The first release focused on the core of Laswell and Submerged once again, with contributions from [[Toshinori Kondo]] and [[Guy Licata]]. The second release under the moniker, though, was more of a compilation style project, though still focusing on drum 'n' bass. ''Inamorata'' stretched the concept out, pairing Laswell’s bass with a different combination of respected jazz and world musicians and drum 'n' bass producers on each track. Artists including [[Herbie Hancock]], [[John Zorn]], [[Pharoah Sanders]], [[Nils Petter Molvaer]], [[Toshinori Kondo]] and [[Buckethead]] were paired with producers [[Amit]], [[Paradox (artist)|Paradox]], [[Submerged]], [[Fanu]] and [[Corrupt Souls]]. To that end, he also released a full-on collaboration with Finnish drum 'n' bass maestro Fanu on OHM Resistance (US) and [[Karl Records]] (Europe), entitled ''Lodge'', which includes contributions from Molvaer and Bernie Worrell amongst others. The concept of the group has once again morphed into a full band concept. In 2009, [[Rare Noise Records]] released 'Live in Nihon', which showcased this new direction/grouping. The group now consisted of Laswell, [[Guy Licata]], [[Dr. Israel]], [[Toshinori Kondo]] and [[Bernie Worrell]]. The second half of 2009 saw the project begin a new push as a new entity somewhat removed from the previous incarnations of MOD. A website<ref>[http://www.methodofdefiance.com Method of Defiance Website]</ref> of veiled quotations and minimal information has cropped up and the group performed more frequently, now supplemented by Jamaican vocalist [[Hawkman]] and turntable maestro [[DJ Krush]]. The group has also hit the studio for a proper release, apparently (according to the vague website) to be a 2CD affair.

Along with frequent live dates around the world with [[Method of Defiance]], Material, [[Painkiller (band)|Painkiller]] and the reformed in the late ‘90s Massacre (with [[This Heat]]'s [[Charles Hayward]] now in the drum chair) Laswell still makes numerous trips to Japan each year for various recordings and live dates, including his ongoing Tokyo Rotation mini-festivals at the Shinjuku Pit-Inn. A recently activated <ref>[http://www.tokyorotation.com Tokyo Rotation Website]</ref> contains information on previous Rotations, most recently having been held in May of 2010. As noted on the [[Method of Defiance]] release 'Nihon' as well as the announcement for some duo gigs between Laswell and some Japanese musicians, Tokyo Rotation has also expanded to be an umbrella term for more than just the mini-festival held at the Pit Inn.

==Frequent collaborators==
Even though many Laswell-produced albums have featured dozens of musicians, he tends to work with a small group of collaborators who appear on most of his recordings. Such musicians include bassists [[Jah Wobble]], [[Jonas Hellborg]] and [[Bootsy Collins]]; guitarists [[Buckethead]] and [[Nicky Skopelitis]]; keyboardists [[Jeff Bova]] and [[Bernie Worrell]]; and percussionists [[Aïyb Dieng]] and [[Karsh Kale]]. Laswell has also frequently worked with musicians from the sprawling [[P-funk]] camp.

In addition, Laswell has relied on the expertise of a small number of engineers over the years. [[Robert Musso]] (a producer, musician and label-owner in his own right) has been Laswell's chief engineer for close to 25 years. [[Oz Fritz]] has occasionally filled the role as well over almost the same time period, though (particularly in the last few years after a move to the West Coast) Fritz is usually Laswell's live engineer of choice, known for his stellar live mixing technique. In addition, a small core of assistants have come through over time, the most recent mainstay being [[James Dellatacoma]].

Over the years, Laswell has also been an in demand remixer and purveyor of what is usually noted as ‘mix translation’. Remixes (released and unreleased) have been done for artists including [[Sting (musician)|Sting]], [[Nine Inch Nails]], [[Almamegretta]], [[Scorn]], [[Ozzy Osbourne]], [[Tori Amos]]. In addition he is often hired for his skills at the board doing straight mixes of albums. In recent years he has done much work in this area for various projects on [[John Zorn]]'s [[Tzadik Records|Tzadik]] record label.

In 2005, Laswell was invited to appear on the PBS series [[Soundstage]]. The show featured a host of the musicians he has played with over the years including incarnations of his [[Praxis (band)|Praxis]] and [[Tabla Beat Science]] projects. In addition to some of the core performers from these projects, [[Pharoah Sanders]], [[Foday Musa Suso]], [[Bootsy Collins]] and [[Catfish Collins]] and many others participated. Though Laswell mixed the show in 5.1, to date no DVD or official recording has been released. The hour-long aired version (part of a much longer show) has popped up on file-sharing sites.

Laswell has also participated on a collaboration with [http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/ Sony Creative Software] on a box set Loop Library called "[http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/loop_libraries/showloop.asp?spid=37 The Bill Laswell Collection]". A link of all Bill's work with Sony Media software is available [http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/loop_libraries/default.asp?cid=23 here].

== See also ==
*[[Axiom (record label)]]
*[[Axiom (record label)]]
*[[List of ambient music artists]]
*''[[Rock 'n' Roll Guns for Hire: The Story of the Sidemen]]''


== References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{AllMusic}}
* Official [http://www.methodofdefiance.com Method of Defiance] site
*{{Bandcamp}}
* Official [http://www.tokyorotation.com Tokyo Rotation] site
*{{Discogs artist}}
* Official [http://www.myspace.com/billlaswell MySpace pages]
*{{MusicBrainz artist}}
* [http://www.silent-watcher.net/billlaswell/ discography at silent-watcher.net]
*Official {{URL|http://www.silent-watcher.net/billlaswell|Silent Watcher}} site
* [http://www.turning-groove.de/DiscoLaswell.html discography at turning-groove.de]
* [http://www.sacreddub.com/ Sacred Dub] fan site/community site, includes podcasts
* [http://www.last.fm/music/Bill+Laswell Last.FM: Bill Laswell pages]
* [http://www.innerhythmic.com/ Innerhythmic.com] (current record label)
* [http://www.innerviews.org/inner/laswell.html Innerviews interview]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/20/AR2007122000773.html Method of Defiance "Inamorata" review by Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, December 21, 2007]
* [http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/170/ Bill Laswell Interview by The Wire Magazine. December, 1994]
* [http://www.brink.com/talk/2476 Part 1 of Interview with Directors of Destroy All Rational Thought DVD - which celebrates the work of Brion Gysin and William Burroughs. Contains music/text by Bill Laswell]
* [http://www.brink.com/talk/2527 Part 2 of Interview with Directors of Destroy All Rational Thought DVD - which celebrates the work of Brion Gysin and William Burroughs. Contains music/text by Bill Laswell]


{{Bill Laswell}}
{{Bill Laswell|state=Expanded}}
{{Painkiller}}
{{Painkiller (band)}}

{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 01:16, 17 December 2024

Bill Laswell
Laswell in 2006
Laswell in 2006
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Otis Laswell
Born (1955-02-12) February 12, 1955 (age 69)
Salem, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, record producer, label owner
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, guitar, keyboards
Years active1978–present
LabelsM.O.D. Reloaded
M.O.D. Technologies
Elektra Musician
Axiom/Island/PolyGram
Virgin
Websitebilllaswell.net

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, world music, jazz, dub, and ambient styles.

According to music critic Chris Brazier, "Laswell's pet concept is 'collision music' which involves bringing together musicians from wildly divergent but complementary spheres and seeing what comes out."[2] 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. Material began as a noisy dance music band, but later albums concentrated on hip hop, jazz, or spoken word readings by William S. Burroughs. Most versions of the band Praxis have included guitarist Buckethead, but they have explored different permutations on albums.

Early life

[edit]

Bill Laswell was born on February 12, 1955, in Salem, Illinois. As a child, his family relocated frequently, exposing Laswell to a variety of regional cultural and musical traditions.[citation needed]

In his teenage years, Laswell's family settled in Michigan, an area with a very diverse music scene during the 1960s and 1970s,[3] from Motown Records to Detroit's burgeoning punk and rock scenes. During this time, Laswell taught himself to play bass guitar, and he developed an unconventional approach to the instrument, experimenting with its potential to create soundscapes rather than merely support rhythm.[4]

Career

[edit]

Early years

[edit]

Laswell began performing as a bass guitarist in R&B and funk bands in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and saw shows that combined genres, such as Iggy and the Stooges, MC5, and Funkadelic. He was also influenced by jazz musicians John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Miles Davis. The live jazz performances and experimental rock acts of Michigan's music festivals encouraged him towards musical experimentation and non-traditional forms, including African drumming, Indian ragas, and Middle Eastern maqams. Later, he was intrigued by the avant-garde and experimental movements of the 1970s, including the works of minimalist composers and electronic music pioneers. He began experimenting with effects pedals and early recording techniques, reflecting his broader artistic philosophy, that music could transcend traditional categorizations and connect diverse cultural and sonic elements.[5]

New York and Material

[edit]

In the late 1970s Laswell moved to New York City,[1] immersing himself in the thriving New York music scene. He moved into producer Giorgio Gomelsky's loft and became part of a group of musicians that would become the first version of Material. Material became the backing band for Daevid Allen[1] and New York Gong. The band consisted of Laswell, keyboardist Michael Beinhorn, and drummer Fred Maher. They were usually supplemented by guitarists Cliff Cultreri or Robert Quine.

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.[6]

He started a recording studio with Martin Bisi and met Jean Karakos, owner of Celluloid Records. Under the Material name Laswell became the de facto house producer for Celluloid until the label was sold in the 1980s. 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. His association with Celluloid allowed his first forays into "collision music", a term coined by British writer Chris May of Black Music & Jazz Review. Recordings with the Golden Palominos and production on albums by Shango, Toure Kunda, and Fela Kuti appeared on the label. Celluloid was an early advocate of hip hop, producing albums by Fab 5 Freddy, GrandMixer D.ST, Phase II, and Afrika Bambaataa. The album World Destruction paired John Lydon with Afrika Bambaataa years before Aerosmith and Run–D.M.C. collaborated on their rock/hip hop version of "Walk This Way".

In 1982, Laswell released Baselines, his solo debut album. A year later, he had a breakthrough with "Rockit", a song he co-wrote and produced for Herbie Hancock's album Future Shock.[1] He played bass guitar and co-wrote other songs on the album, leading to collaborations with Hancock through the 2000s. He won a Grammy Award for producing Hancock's next album, Sound-System.[1]

He became a member of the band Last Exit in 1986 with Peter Brötzmann, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Sonny Sharrock.[1] Aside from one album that Laswell cobbled together in the studio, the band was primarily a live one, showing up at gigs with no rehearsal. The first time the four members played together was on stage at their first show.

Laswell produced albums for Sly and Robbie, Mick Jagger, PiL, Motörhead, Ramones, Stevie Salas, Iggy Pop and Yoko Ono. Many of these bands afforded Laswell the opportunity to hire his working crew to record on more mainstream records. Sly and Robbie hired him to produce their 1985 album Language Barrier and 1987 album Rhythm Killers.[7]

Running Axiom

[edit]

Island Records founder Chris Blackwell gave him the opportunity to begin a label in 1990, thus forming Axiom Records. In addition to albums by Material that included Sly and Robbie, William S. Burroughs, Bootsy Collins, Wayne Shorter, and Bernie Worrell, he produced and released albums by Ginger Baker, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Sonny Sharrock, Nicky Skopelitis, and Umar Bin Hassan. Among the studio-based albums, Palestinian oud and violinist Simon Shaheen recorded an album of music by Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab. Gambian virtuoso Foday Musa Suso recorded an album of dance music with his electric Kora, and Turkish saz master Talip Oezkan recorded an album. Master Musicians of Jajouka recorded an album in their village in the Rif Mountains. There were albums by Mandinka and Fulani recorded at Suso's family compound in Gambia and Gnawa music from Morocco.

Praxis featured guitarist Buckethead on Transmutation with Bootsy Collins, Bryan Mantia, Bernie Worrell, and Afrika Baby Bam from the Jungle Brothers. The album blended funk grooves and heavy metal riffs with many tracks co-written by Laswell.

Funkcronomicon included previously released tracks by Praxis and Skopelitis and tracks with members of Parliament-Funkadelic. George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, and the last recordings of Eddie Hazel are featured prominently. The album includes DXT, Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole and Torture.[8] Laswell remixed the Axiom catalog for Axiom Ambient, blending seemingly disparate tracks, releasing some of the music for Sample Material – International Free Zone, a sample library for other musicians to use as material.[9][10]

Other labels

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Subharmonic, conceived by Laswell and ex-Celluloid A&R Robert Soares, though not owned by Laswell, was essentially a vehicle for his projects, most in the ambient or ambient-dub categories. The label licensed a few releases from European labels for American re-release, notably Psychonavigation with Pete Namlook and Cymatic Scan with Tetsu Inoue from Pete Namlook's FAX label; Somnific Flux with Mick Harris and Cold Summer by Lull from the Sentrax label. Other collaborators included Jonah Sharp and Terre Thaemlitz. The label also released albums by Painkiller, Praxis, and Divination, an ambient dub project by Laswell. A sub-label called Strata was created with five releases in a more experimental dub/noise/ambient vein. Each of these releases (Death Cube K, Cypher 7, Azonic, and two under his alias Automaton) came in a black jewel case with the name of the project and album title printed on the front.

Three other short-lived labels were created after the demise of the Subharmonic deal. One was Meta, which was intended to be a spoken word label. The second label, Submeta, managed four releases before folding. Meta, formed with Janet Rienstra, released only one album, Baptism of Solitude with novelist Paul Bowles reading excerpts from his work over soundscapes by Laswell. Meta would appear periodically, distributed by other labels, over the next few years until it returned as a spiritual/yogic label run by Rienstra. The third label, Black Arc, was an associated label of Rykodisc focusing on "Black Rock, Cyber Funk, and Future Blues", according to a sampler. The label featured members of P-Funk on most of the albums and released albums by Bootsy Collins (under the name "Zillatron"), Bernie Worrell (Japan-only), Mutiny (Jerome Brailey), and Billy Bass.

Charged (1999) by Eraldo Bernocchi and Toshinori Kondo was released by Laswell's label Innerythmic. After a brief inactive period, the label restarted in 2001, releasing over the next few years and albums by Nicky Skopelitis, Raoul Björkenheim, James Blood Ulmer, Shin Terai, and Gonervill. Innerhythmic also released a live recording by Praxis and reissued Black Arc albums from the 1990, including Zillatron, The Last Poets' Holy Terror and Buddy Miles' Hell & Back.[11]

Laswell moved his studio to West Orange, New Jersey and called it Orange Music Sound Studios. Under Palm's umbrella, though, four albums and a DVD set were released, including a studio album and a live 2-disc set from Tabla Beat Science centered on tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, son of Alla Rakha. The album included Karsh Kale, Trilok Gurtu, Ustad Sultan Khan, and Talvin Singh. This group has performed in the US, Lebanon, and Japan. Laswell, Kale, Kahn, and Hussain are usually supplemented by other musicians, which have included Gigi, DJ Disk, Serj Tankian from System of a Down, Sussan Deyhim, and artist Petulia Mattioli. In 2001 Life Space Death was released with Japanese trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, Laswell on bass, guitar, and keyboards, and words by the 14th Dalai Lama[12] interviewed by Kondo.[13] At the request of Blackwell, Laswell oversaw the debut album by Ethiopian singer Gigi for Palm Pictures with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Laswell. He also produced Abyssinia Infinite and Gold & Wax.

Laswell has stated in interviews that he met with Miles Davis a number of times and discussed working together, but busy schedules kept them from arranging such a recording before Davis' death.[14] He remixed some of Davis's music for Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974 (Axiom, 1998).[6]

New century, new labels

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He signed a contract with Sanctuary Records that led to the creation of his label Nagual. He worked in the drum and bass genre, starting with Brutal Calling credited to Bill Laswell vs. Submerged that was released by Avant in 2004. He and Submerged worked together again on The Only Way to Go is Down (2006) under the name Method of Defiance. After this album, they assembled producers in drum and bass to collaborate with musicians from jazz. Evol Intent, Future Prophecies, and SPL recorded with Buckethead, Herbie Hancock, and Pharoah Sanders.[1]

In 2010, Laswell created the label M.O.D. Technologies. Its first releases were the albums Jahbulon and Incunabula by Method of Defiance and Mesgana Ethiopia by Material with Gigi.[1]

Along with live dates around the world with Massacre, Material, Method of Defiance, and Painkiller, Laswell travels to Japan every year for recordings and live dates, including with Tokyo Rotation.[15]

In September 2017, Bill Laswell was interviewed by the Data.Wave webzine.[16]

In November 2018, he performed in Dave Douglas Uplift band at the London Jazz Festival.[17]

Laswell suffered health problems which required hospitalization in December 2022 and prolonged recovery,[18] which jeopardized his tenure of Orange Music Studio.[19]

Prior to his health problems, Laswell had been recording as a duo with his long-time on-and-off collaborator Zorn releasing the albums The Cleansing (2022) and Memoria (2023) on Zorn's Tzadik label.[20][21] His first venture during his health recovery in 2024 was a new Painkiller album titled Samsara with Zorn and original drummer Harris, although for this recording Harris' percussion is electronic and Zorn then Laswell layered up their contributions separately.[22][23]

Collaborators

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Laswell works frequently with a small group of collaborators. These include bassists Jah Wobble, Josh Werner, 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. Robert Musso has been his chief engineer for over twenty years. Oz Fritz has occasionally filled the role. Fritz is usually Laswell's live engineer of choice, known for live mixing technique. Remixes have been done for Sting, Nine Inch Nails, Almamegretta, Scorn, Ozzy Osbourne, and Tori Amos. He has done much work for John Zorn's Tzadik Records.

In 2005, Laswell was invited to appear on the PBS series Soundstage. 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.

Laswell worked with Sony Creative Software on a box set loop library called The Bill Laswell Collection.[24]

He has also worked with Eraldo Bernocchi and Mick Harris on a project called Equations of Eternity, which is an ambient music project started in 1995 by Eraldo. Since its members live in separate parts of the world (Mick Harris in England; Bill Laswell in the US; and Eraldo Bernocchi in Italy), the project has been predominantly studio-based, with its members recording music in their respective countries.

Discography

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Main article: Bill Laswell discography

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Ankeny, Jason. "Bill Laswell". AllMusic. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Bill Laswell Pages". Silent-watcher.net. March 22, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  3. ^ "Bill Laswell". Shfl. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  4. ^ Fernando, S.H. "Bill Laswell: An Introduction". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  5. ^ Prasad, Anil. "Bill Laswell - Sonic Collage". Innerviews. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Gilbert, Mark (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 552. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
  7. ^ Greene, Jo-Ann. "Sly & Robbie". AllMusic. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  8. ^ Axiom Dub: Mysteries of Creation, Hyperreal Archive
  9. ^ "Bill Laswell Axiom Discography". Music.hyperreal.org. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  10. ^ "Bill Laswell Discography". www.silent-watcher.net. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  11. ^ "Raoul Björkenheim's website". Raoulbjorkenheim.com. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  12. ^ Life Space Death at AllMusic
  13. ^ Life Space Death, album sleeve notes
  14. ^ "MussoMusic discography". MussoMusic. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  15. ^ "Bill Laswell presents Tokyo Rotation". Time Out.
  16. ^ "Interview for Data.Wave webzine".
  17. ^ "Jazz Now, Dave Douglas". BBC Radio 3. November 19, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  18. ^ Bill Milkowski (February 12, 2024). "The Trials and Triumphs of Bill Laswell". Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  19. ^ Zachary Lipez (February 21, 2024). "The Strange World Of... Bill Laswell". The Quietus. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  20. ^ "John Zorn-Bill Laswell : The Cleansing". Tzadik Records. January 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  21. ^ "John Zorn-Bill Laswell : Memoria". Tzadik Records. May 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  22. ^ Hank Shteamer (November 11, 2024). "The Jazz-Metal Trio PainKiller's Classic Lineup Revs Up Again". The New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  23. ^ "PainKiller : Samsara". Tzadik Records. November 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  24. ^ "Sound Series – Loops & Samples". Sony Creative Software. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
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