Jazz Articles about Bill Laswell

About Bill Laswell

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Constellations and Hemispheres

Read "Constellations and Hemispheres" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 18, 2026

The listener is easily startled by Wadada Leo Smith. The man has an aura about him that emanates from some other place, some other time, when the rule of law was set in stone. A time not too long ago when collective aspiration held us all enthralled. And the man who carried that stone is none other than the trumpeter himself. Smith's presence also has a mythical essence that, in and of itself, is hardly breaking news. But ...

Radio & Podcasts

Bill Laswell, Kronos Quartet, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, And More.

by Lawrence Peryer
September 18, 2026

The first half of our show is a deep dub run: an obscure mid-1990s compilation cut, Harry Mudie's 1976 session with King Tubby, Scientist's early-'80s Channel One sound, Prince Far I, and Bill Laswell, who shows up twice, once under his own name and once as the producer who reassembled Bob Marley's catalog into ambient dub on 1997's Dreams of Freedom. The second half slows all the way down: a new quartet session built around Christer Bothén's donso n'goni, Kronos ...

Interview

Petr Studený: Listening as a Creative Act

by Nenad Georgievski
August 22, 2026

For Petr Studený, music has never been a passive background hum. Since 1979, he has operated under the self-assigned title of “active listener"--a designation that treats the intake of sound as a foundational creative act. Based in Prague, a city whose “magical" atmosphere he credits as a silent collaborator, Studený has spent decades navigating the intersections of industrial noise, minimalism, and the historical avant-garde. He has emerged as a vital bridge between the radical traditions of the 20th century and the ...

Album Review

John Zorn and Bill Laswell: Memoria

Read "Memoria" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
July 17, 2023

John Zorn and Bill Laswell, two towering figures of the New York Downtown scene, have once again joined forces to deliver a captivating musical experience, entitled Memoria. Following the success of their previous collaboration, The Cleansing, (Tzadik, 2021) this new release pays tribute to three artistic visionaries whose legacies continue to inspire and shape the realms of creativity and artistic integrity. The album title, Memoria, serves as a heartfelt tribute to three influential figures who have passed away: ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

Read "Fire Illuminations" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
March 31, 2023

Eighty-one year old trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith comes out flaring like Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, as Fire Illuminations jumps the funk rock from the break of the muscular conflagration “Ntozake." And the grunge jazz clips along as guitarists Nels Cline, Brandon Ross, and Lamar Smith vie, bite, sting, and quarrel over an insistent bass drum power-groove courtesy of bassists Bill Laswell and Melvin Gibbs, percussionist Mauro Refosco, drummer Pheeroan aKlaff, and the deep space electronics of Hardedge.

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

Read "Fire Illuminations" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
March 12, 2023

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith fronts lots of different bands and puts out lots of albums. After a busy period when he released five boxed sets, totaling 27 CDs, here he debuts his new all-star ensemble Orange Wave Electric, with the download-only offering, Fire Illuminations. As the band name implies, the sound is electric, featuring three electric guitarists, two electric bassists and an electronicist, joining the leader's horn, percussionist Mauro Refosco and drummer Pheeroan aKLaff. For comparison's sake--and using ...

Album Review

John Zorn and Bill Laswell: The Cleansing

Read "The Cleansing" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
February 16, 2022

The Cleansing represents a meeting between two titans of contemporary music--composer and saxophonist John Zorn, and bassist and composer Bill Laswell. Both have spent over forty years camped out in spaces between avant-garde, experimental, jazz, improv, psychedelia, noise and ambient, each having created immersive, forward-thinking, sometimes brutal, and colorful music worlds. They have been pushing the boundaries of the possible for a long time; their almost single-minded commitment has made them leading figures in a broad range of contemporary musics ...