July 25, 2024Scott Goldfine

TIR 30: Funk, Electronic Renegade Bill Laswell Rocks It

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Brought to you by FUNKNSTUFF.NET and hosted by Scott Goldfine — musicologist and author of “Everything Is on the One: The First Guide of Funk” ― “TRUTH IN RHYTHM” is the interview show that gets DEEP into the pocket with contemporary music’s foremost masters of the groove.

Featured in this two-part series: Visionary bassist-producer Bill Laswell, who since the late 1970s has been one of the most prolific artists of the recorded music era. As a sound conceptualist who has always been a step ahead of the curve, Laswell has put his inimitable stamp on nearly 3,000 recording projects by artists like Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Bootsy Collins, Nine Inch Nails, Motorhead, Peter Gabriel, Blur, The Ramones, George Clinton, Pharaoh Sanders, Sting, The Last Poets, Afrika Bambaataa, Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti, Bernie Worrell, Buckethead and most notably Herbie Hancock, who collaborated with Laswell for the pivotal 1983 smash-hit single “Rock-It.” His radical remixes (a.k.a. reconstructions) of works by Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, Bob Marley and a vast array of dub-related and atmospheric ambient projects have further defined Laswell as a revolutionary iconoclast.

Setting up base in New York, Laswell helped generate several innovative recording labels like Celluloid, Subharmonic, Black Arc and Innerhythmic. Along with Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, he established the AXIOM label in 1989. M.O.D. Technologies, his most recent imprint, includes projects by Method of Defiance, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Praxis, Garrison Hawk with Sly & Robbie, The Process (with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith and pianist Jon Baptiste) and progressive/futuristic music from Ethiopia.

As a player, Laswell’s bass lines resound with rare authority on groundbreaking projects by Tabla Beat Science, his avant-funk band Material, the apocalyptic assault of Last Exit (with Sonny Sharrock) and the throbbingly intense power trios, Massacre (with Fred Frith and Charles Hayward), Painkiller (with John Zorn and Mick Harris), Blixt and Bladerunner (with again John Zorn and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo).

Laswell’s artistic reach has consistently extended to the continent of Africa, creating evolutionary and controversial recording projects in Morocco, Senegal, Mali, Gambia and most recently, Ethiopia, where he has established a base for developing artists — just as he did in the South Bronx nearly 40 years ago. An eternal musical renegade, the enigmatic Bill Laswell has always played by his own rules. That includes remaining off-camera for this edition of TRUTH IN RHYTHM, perhaps the most in-depth interview the reclusive innovator he has ever done.

Recorded November 2017

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Scott Goldfine

As a fervid lifelong music & film enthusiast / student, I grew up in and around the Los Angeles entertainment industry. I have worked and held many positions in various media realms, since 1998 serving as Editor-in-Chief and now Associate Publisher for Security Sales & Integration, a trade publication serving the electronic security industry. I love several genres of music & film. The former includes funk (Parliament-Funkadelic, Prince, Ohio Players, etc.); blues (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Eric Gales, etc.); rock (Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, etc.); hard rock (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc.); jazz (Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Crusaders, etc.); R&B (Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Gil Scott-Heron, etc.); and more. I was a club disc jockey and ran a mobile DJ company (Musical Moods) for more than 15 years, which is where the name Dr. GX originates (Doctor Good Times). Fave film genres include horror (Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.); science fiction (Aliens, Terminator, 2001, etc.); action (Warriors, Road Warrior, Die Hard); westerns (Outlaw Josey Wales, Showdown at OK Corral; Wild Bunch, etc.); suspense (Jaws, Inception, Silence of the Lambs, etc.); drama (Apocalypse Now, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, etc.); and comedies (Life of Brian, Superbad, Ruthless People, etc.). I have attended many hundreds of concerts and movies (in theaters or screenings). I may as well also throw in a few favorite TV shows to give an even broader taste of my sensibilities. A handful would be Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Lost, Justified, Fargo, Seinfeld, Sopranos, South Park, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Key & Peele, Monty Python, Inside Amy Schumer, Louie, Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Last Man on Earth, Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family and The Office. Fave authors are Stephen King, Clive Barker and Michael Crichton. I am also a big sports fan and lifelong supporter of the Dallas Cowboys (NFL), Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB). Also enjoy my family of course, electronics/computers/AV gear, and animals, nature and outdoor activities. Graduate of Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica College and California State University Northridge (Radio-TV-Film, Psychology minor). Also studied at UCLA for kinesiology/psychology and earned post-grad Certificate in Accounting from Santa Monica College. Present main occupation is as Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Security Sales & Integration (SSI), which I joined in 1998. I am responsible for overseeing all editorial content in print. online, electronic, in-person and any other media or products for the electronic security industry's leading business-to-business trade publication. SSI is part of Framingham, Mass.-based Emerald Expositions.