Praxis is an

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

project, led by producer/bassist

Bill Laswell 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, wo ...

and featuring guitarist

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative and virtuosic electric guitar playing. Buckethead's extensive solo discography currentl ...

and drummer

Brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

in nearly every incarnation of the band. The group worked with many other artists such as

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian ( , ; born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band System of a Down, which was formed in 1994. Tankian has released five albums with System of a Down ...

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, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

, DXT and DJ Disk.

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),'' released in 1992, was well received by critics. Praxis was composed of guitarist

, keyboardist Bernie Worrell, drummer

, bassist

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...

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 ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

and heavy metal into highly improvised music. The P-Funk-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,'' 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 mus ...

and featured a rotating roster of guests including sax player

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

, drummer Mick Harris from

Painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management. Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in s ...

, and members of the band Blind Idiot God. The

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, 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 death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

-influenced album was not as acclaimed as their debut. The same year saw the album

Metatron Metatron (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''Meṭāṭrōn''), or Matatron (), is an angel in Judaism, Gnosticism, and Islam. Metatron is mentioned three times in the Talmud, in a few brief passages in the Aggadah, the Targum, and in mystical kabbalah, Kabba ...

, 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'' containing material from shows in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Both albums featured members of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. After the shows, the project broke up.

1997–2004

In 1997,

re-released his

Material A material is a matter, substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an Physical object, object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical property, physical ...

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 Southeas ...

'' under the Praxis name. This was followed by the album ''

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

'' with Pat Thrall, Peter Wetherbee and Alex Haas instead of

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'' (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 formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

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)'', 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 Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

''. Another live album called '' Tennessee 2004'' was released in 2007 which was a truncated version of a longer show performed at the Bonnarroo festival. On 5 April 2005, Laswell performed a 2-hour concert at WTTW Stusios, Chicago with three incarnations of his groups: Tabla Beat Science (with Zakir Hussein, Ustad Sultan Khan, DJ Disk,

Karsh Kale Karsh Kale (pronounced ''Kursh Kah-lay'', ''कर्ष काळे'' in Marathi; born 1 November 1974) is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale ...

, Selim Merchant and Nils Petter Molvaer),

(with

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

, Foday Musa Suso, Hamid Drake, Aïyb Dieng and Abegasu Shiota) and Praxis (with Buckethead, Brain and Toshinori Kondo), with Bootsy Collins performing MC duties at its climax. An hour long edit was broadcast on the Soundstage series on 13 July 2006. On January 1, 2008 the studio album '' Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)'' was released in Japan with guest contributions by

, 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'' was re-released on Bill Laswell's new M.O.D. Technologies 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 '' Profanation'' 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 (born November 18, 1959), known as Cindy Blackman Santana since she married guitarist Carlos Santana in 2010, is an American jazz and Rock music, rock drummer performing since the 80s. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as ...

on drums *

on bass and vocals * DJ Disk on turntables * DXT on turntables * Yamatsuka Eye on vocals * Mick Harris on drums * Lili Haydn on violin * Invisibl Skratch Piklz on turntables * Toshinori Kondo on trumpet * Maximum Bob on vocals * Mike Patton on vocals *

on vocals *

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 Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, 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: '' Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)'' *1993: '' Sacrifist'' *1994: ''

'' *1998: ''

'' *2008: '' Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)''

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: '' Transmutation Live'' *1999: '' Warszawa'' *2005: ''

'' *2007: '' Tennessee 2004''

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