Praxis is the name of an experimental rock project, led by producer/bassist Bill Laswell and featuring guitarist Buckethead and drummer Brain in nearly every incarnation of the band. The group worked with many other artists such as Serj Tankian from System of a Down,

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

, DXT and

DJ Disk DJ Disk is a turntablist from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is of Panamanian, Colombian, and Nicaraguan descent. Born Luis Quintanilla on October 7, 1970, in San Francisco, Disk began scratching and mixing vinyl at a young age. In 1992, he joined ...

Biography

Early days

Bill Laswell initially used the name Praxis for an experimental solo EP recorded for Celluloid Records in 1984, simply named "1984".

1992–1996

The band's debut album, ''

Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) ''Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)'' is the first album by Bill Laswell's ever-changing "supergroup" Praxis. The album was released in 1992 and features Buckethead on guitar, Bootsy Collins on bass and vocals, Brain on drums, Bernie Worrell on ke ...

,'' released in 1992, was well received by critics. Praxis was composed of guitarist Buckethead, keyboardist Bernie Worrell, drummer Brain, bassist

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

and Afrika Baby Bam as "AF Next Man Flip" on turntables. Bill Laswell masterminded the project and served as producer and co-writer of much of the album's material. Praxis combined elements of different musical genres such as

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, jazz, hip-hop and heavy metal into highly improvised music. The

P-Funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

-inspired track " Animal Behavior," with a lead vocal from Collins, was released as a single. A video was also shot for the track. Their next studio album, ''

Sacrifist ''Sacrifist'' is the second album by Bill Laswell's experimental music project Praxis (band), Praxis, released in 1993 on Laswell's label Subharmonic (record label), Subharmonic. Originally, the album was intended to be a Rammellzee project, but ...

,'' was released two years later on the new Laswell-led label

Subharmonic In music, the undertone series or subharmonic series is a sequence of notes that results from inverting the intervals of the overtone series. While overtones naturally occur with the physical production of music on instruments, undertones must ...

and featured a rotating roster of guests including sax player

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

, drummer Mick Harris from Painkiller, and members of the band

Blind Idiot God Blind Idiot God is an American instrumental rock trio formed in 1982 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, by guitarist Andy Hawkins, bassist Gabriel Katz and drummer Ted Epstein. The phrase "blind idiot god" comes from horror writer H. P. Lo ...

. The

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

-influenced album was not as acclaimed as their debut. The same year saw the album Metatron, with a trio of Buckethead, Laswell and Brain, which included the song "Wake the Dead." In 1996 the band toured Europe and recorded two live albums called ''Live in Poland'' and ''

Transmutation Live ''Transmutation Live'' is a live album by experimental rock band Praxis, recorded during a performance in Zurich, Switzerland, in the summer of 1996. The album features the lineup of bassist Bill Laswell, guitarist Buckethead, drummer Brain ...

'' containing material from shows in Zürich and Warsaw. Both albums featured members of the

Invisibl Skratch Piklz The Invisibl Skratch Piklz are an American group of turntablists. The members of the group were originally hip-hop DJs, who were among the pioneers of the turntablism movement in the 1990s; turntablists create musical pieces by mixing sampl ...

. After the shows, the project broke up.

1997–2004

In 1997, Bill Laswell re-released his Material EP ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

'' under the Praxis name. This was followed by the album '' Mold'' with Pat Thrall, Peter Wetherbee and Alex Haas instead of Buckethead, Brain and Bernie Worrell respectively. The album was essentially somewhat of a remix album with Wetherbee and crew taking elements from 1984 and crafting a full-length release. Laswell's involvement with this album was minimal. In 1998, Laswell contributed "Dreadnot" to the compilation ''Abstract Depressionism''. Though labeled a Praxis track, this was essentially a solo Laswell creation. In the same year a first compilation album also containing two songs from the Death Cube K album ''

Dreamatorium ''Dreamatorium'' is the first album by American guitarist Buckethead, under the anagram name Death Cube K. The album explores an abstract, ambient-influenced musical style. It was released on May 13, 1994, by Strata (sub-label of Bill Laswell's ...

'' (Death Cube K is an anagram of Buckethead) was made available. In 1999, a re-worked version of ''Live in Poland'' was released as '' Warszawa''. Little was heard of the band for the next years, while Brain and Buckethead played for

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

and Laswell concentrated more on his dub releases.

2004–2010

Most original members reunited for a small tour in 2004 culminating in their appearance as part of a Bill Laswell themed episode of the PBS series Soundstage. Laswell also began working on their next studio album ''

Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) ''Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)'' is the last album by Praxis, released in Japan on January 1, 2008. The album features guest appearances by Iggy Pop, Mike Patton, Serj Tankian and Killah Priest among others; notably it feature ...

'', but due to the label (Sanctuary) going broke the project was put on hold for about three years. In 2005 ''Transmutation Live'' was re-worked and re-released as '' Zurich''. Another live album called ''

Tennessee 2004 ''Tennessee 2004'' is a live album by the experimental rock band Praxis, released in 2007 but recorded at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival near Manchester, Tennessee during the early morning hours of June 12, 2004. This album features core ...

'' was released in 2007 which was a truncated version of a longer show performed at the Bonnarroo festival. On January 1, 2008 the studio album ''

'' was released in Japan with guest contributions by Serj Tankian, Mike Patton and

as well as Buckethead's old friend Maximum Bob and many more.

2011–present: Hiatus and Sound Virus

In early 2011, ''

Profanation Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

'' was re-released on Bill Laswell's new

M.O.D. Technologies M.O.D. Technologies is an independent record label based in New York City and intended to be the modern evolution of producer and bassist Bill Laswell's Axiom label. It was founded in 2010 by Laswell and RareNoiseRecords founder Giacomo Bruzzo ...

label with two additional live tracks. Later that month Bill Laswell stated in an interview that there was likely no more future for the band: M.O.D. Technologies also has a vinyl version of ''

'' scheduled for an April 2013 release. In 2015, the band released a new album entitled "Sound Virus". In 2022, Bill Laswell, Buckethead and Brain returned to the stage as Praxis to play two shows in New York.

Notable guests

The following musicians have contributed to the various Praxis experiments (though arguably, those appearing on "Mold" are not proper collaborators as this album is only tenuously part of the Praxis canon): * Afrika Baby Bam as AF Next Man Flip on turntables *

Cindy Blackman Cindy Blackman Santana (born November 18, 1959), sometimes known as Cindy Blackman, is an American jazz and rock drummer. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as a bandleader and has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Simmons, Ron Carter ...

on drums *

on bass and vocals *

on turntables * DXT on turntables * Yamatsuka Eye on vocals * Mick Harris on drums *

Lili Haydn Lili Haydn (born December 25, 1969) is a Canadian-born rock violinist, vocalist, actress, and composer. As a child, she pursued a career as an actress; at age eight she discovered the violin and began to focus on classical music. By the time Hay ...

on violin *

on turntables * Toshinori Kondo on trumpet * Maximum Bob on vocals * Mike Patton on vocals *

on vocals * Serj Tankian on vocals * Pat Thrall on guitars *

on saxophone

Musical styles

Between the influence of Laswell and Buckethead, Praxis' musical experimentation in both studio, street and live settings have combined elements of mid-1970s Funkadelic & Miles Davis, hip-hop's more avant-garde leanings, and Last Exit's ferocious yet organic jazz/metal aesthetic. Many of these experiments defined diverse, eclectic, and freeform genres including avant-garde, heavy metal, funk and jazz-fusion.

Discography

Studio albums

*1992: ''

'' *1993: ''

'' *1994: '' Metatron'' *1998: '' Mold'' *2008: ''

Singles

*1992: '' Animal Behavior''

EPs and compilations

*1984: ''1984'' *1992: ''A Taste of Mutation'' *1998: ''Collection'' *2015: ''Sound Virus''"This is not a reissue nor compilation. This is re-stored, edited, enhanced and remastered Version, a Reconstruction."
''Sound Virus'' by Praxis. Retrieved 2016-11-06.

Live

*1997: ''Live in Poland'' *1997: ''

'' *1999: '' Warszawa'' *2005: '' Zurich'' *2007: ''

References

External links

Bill Laswell's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Praxis American funk metal musical groups Buckethead Island Records artists Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 ROIR artists