Praxis (band)

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Praxis is the name of an ever-changing Bill Laswell musical project. One of the best live and most influential groups of the last 20 years, Praxis defined a new genre in music by combining elements of Funkadelic, Last Exit, jazz, hip-hop and heavy metal into a highly improvised, extremely challenging music. First appearing in 1992 with the critically acclaimed Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis), Buckethead, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell and Brain have defined the direction of the band over the last 14 years.

Contents 1 Performers 2 Musical styles 3 Discography 4 References 5 See also

[edit] Performers

The following musicians have contributed to the various Praxis experiments:

• Buckethead on guitars
• Bootsy Collins on bass and vocals
• Bernie Worrell on keyboards
• Bill Laswell on bass
• DJ Disk on turntables
• Af Next Man Flip on turntables
• Jerome Parsons on vocals
• Invisibl Skratch Piklz on turntables
• DXT on turntables
• Brain on drums
• Cindy Blackman on drums
• Yamatsuka Eye on vocals
• Toshinori Kondo on trumpet
• Hakim Bey on vocals, and inspiration
• Lili Haydn on violin
• John Zorn on saxophone
• Mick Harris on drums
• Alex Haas on treatments, keyboards, and process
• David Castellan on loops, textures, and compost
• Julian Joyce as "DarkStep Junglist"
• Pat Thrall on guitars
• Anne Pollack on flutes
• Charlotta Jansen on vocals
• Peter Wetherbee on drums, guitars, vocals, synthesis, loops, beats, and noise

[edit] Musical styles

Between the influence of Laswell and Buckethead, Praxis's musical experimentation in both studio and live settings have combined elements of mid-70’s Funkadelic & Miles Davis, hip-hop’s more avant garde leanings, and Last Exit's ferocious jazz/metal aesthetic. Many of these experiments defined (and in some sense, invented) diverse, eclectic, and freeform genres including avant-garde, heavy metal, electronic, funk, jazz, space rock, and jazz-fusion.

[edit] Discography

• Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) - 1992
• Sacrifist - 1994
• Metatron - 1994
• Live in Poland - 1997
• Transmutation Live - 1997
• Collection - 1998
• Mold - 1998
• Warszawa - 1999
• Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) - 2006 - unreleased

[edit] References

• Buckethead Wikipedia article
• AMG article on Praxis
• Bill Laswell and Buckethead fan site

[edit] See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart