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Biography
Other uses|Praxis (disambiguation)Refimprove|date=March 2011Infobox musical artist | name = Praxis| image =| caption =| background = group_or_band| origin =| genre = Rock music|Rock , Avant-garde music|avant-garde , Experimental music|experimental , funk rock , progressive rock , noise rock | years_active = 1992–2011| label =| associated_acts =| website =| current_members = Bill Laswell Buckethead Bryan Mantia|Bryan "Brain" Mantia Bernie Worrell | past_members = Praxis was the name of an ever-changing musical project, led by prolific producer Bill Laswell . Praxis combine elements of different musical genres such as funk music|funk , jazz music|jazz , Hip hop music|hip-hop and heavy metal music|heavy metal into highly improvised music. First appearing in 1992 with the critically acclaimed Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) , Laswell, guitarist Buckethead , bassist Bootsy Collins, keyboardist Bernie Worrell and drummer Bryan Mantia|Brain have defined the direction of the band over the last 15 years. The group worked with many other artists such as Serj Tankian from System of a Down , Iggy Pop , and Les Claypool of Primus (band)|Primus fame.
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 and spawned the group's only single, the Bootsy Collins sung " Animal Behavior (Praxis single)|Animal Behavior ". Their next studio album, Sacrifist , released two years later featured John Zorn and Mick Harris from Painkiller (band)|Painkiller . The obscure mix of death metal was not as acclaimed as their debut.
The same year saw the album Metatron (Praxis album)|Metatron which included the song "Wake the Dead". In 1996 the band toured Europe and recorded two live albums called Live in Poland (Praxis album)|Live in Poland and Transmutation Live containing material from shows in Zurich and Warsaw . Both albums featured members of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz . After the shows, the project broke up.
1997–2004
In 1997, Bill Laswell re-released his Material (band)|Material EP 1984 (Praxis album)|1984 under the project's name. This was followed by the album Mold (Praxis album)|Mold with Laswell introducing Pat Thrall , Peter Wetherbee and Alex Haas instead of Buckethead , Bryan Mantia and Bernie Worrell respectively. In 1998, Laswell contributed "Dreadnot" to the compilation Abstract Depressionism .cite web|url= http://www.mickharris.net/discography/collections/abstractdepressionism.html |title=Mick Harris Discography |publisher=Mickharris.net |date= |accessdate=2012-02-29 In the same year a first compilation album also containing two songs from the Buckethead|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 (Praxis album)|Warszawa . Little was heard of the band for the next years, while Brain and Buckethead played for Guns N' Roses and Laswell concentrated more on his dub releases.
2004–2010
Most original members reunited for a small tour in 2004 and 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 (Praxis album)|Zurich . Another live album called Tennessee 2004 was released in 2007.
On January 1, 2008 the studio album Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) was released in Japan with guest contributions by Serj Tankian , Mike Patton and Iggy Pop as well as Buckethead's old friend Maximum Bob (singer)|Maximum Bob and many more.
2011: End of the band
In January 2011, Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)|Profanation was re-released on the M.O.D. Technologies label with two additional tracks. Later that month Bill Laswell stated that there was no future of the band:
quotation|I doubt it. I think they’re like closed chapters, but fairly well-documented ones. ... The same thing goes for Praxis. Buckethead has mostly been performing solo. He also had a health issue recently with his back, so he hasn’t been that active. If you want to do something new, there are better things to do than going back to something you did years ago and starting it over.cite web|url= http://www.innerviews.org/inner/laswell2.html |title=Interview with Bill Laswell by Anil Prasad (1/11) |publisher=Innerviews.org |date= |accessdate=2012-02-29
Notable guests
The following musicians have contributed to the various Praxis experiments: MultiCol
Jungle Brothers|Afrika Baby Bam as AF Next Man Flip on turntables
Between the influence of Laswell and Buckethead, Praxis' musical experimentation in both studio, street and live settings have combined elements of mid-70’s Funkadelic & Miles Davis , hip-hop’s more avant-garde leanings, and Last Exit (Free jazz band)|Last Exit 's ferocious yet organic jazz/metal aesthetic. Many of these experiments defined (and in some sense, invented) diverse, eclectic, and freeform genres including avant-garde, heavy metal, funk and jazz-fusion.
1997: Live in Poland (Praxis album)|Live in Poland
1997: Transmutation Live
1999: Warszawa (Praxis album)|Warszawa
2005: Zurich (Praxis album)|Zurich
2007: Tennessee 2004
References
reflist
External links
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/praxis-p23652 AMG article on Praxis
http://www.turning-groove.de Bill Laswell and Buckethead fan site
PraxisBill Laswell DEFAULTSORT:Praxis Category:Buckethead Category:Reachout International Records recording artists Category:Musical groups established in 1992 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2011
