Material

One of the most high-profile projects of the endlessly prolific bassist and producer <a href="spotify:artist:5RISqKCcrhGITX2TQAPGPL">Bill Laswell</a>, Material pioneered a groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, and punk that also incorporated elements of hip-hop and world music well before either's entrance into the mass cultural consciousness. Formed in 1979, the first Material lineup consisted of <a href="spotify:artist:5RISqKCcrhGITX2TQAPGPL">Laswell</a>, multi-instrumentalist <a href="spotify:artist:2J0GFYB2eNlq5JezBGbJej">Michael Beinhorn</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2gaxJ6WzJbs1O6z1mml8SB">Fred Maher</a>, all three staples of the downtown New York City underground music scene. The group, plus <a href="spotify:artist:1jacVtMSOup3dqdSEeegZg">Kramer</a> and a few others backed <a href="spotify:artist:47yvARr7dCOKqvjDVwfbf3">Gong</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4TKZe6WKiBlHCvnhO1lsa7">Daevid Allen</a> during his New York visit, resulting in the album About Time by <a href="spotify:artist:4Pl0KVbualOWBxwazHRs7T">New York Gong</a>. After Material's debut LP under their own name, Temporary Music, the group's ranks swelled to include figures ranging from <a href="spotify:artist:6QBN53AVQ0IcbSZrKxqwoB">Sonny Sharrock</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:0bSP8obSwEpc8XEOE7qc63">Henry Threadgill</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:4KMt98IljgbTUeeU9KAu7y">Fred Frith</a>, additions which yielded 1981's superb Memory Serves. A guest list running the gamut from <a href="spotify:artist:3yDIp0kaq9EFKe07X1X2rz">Nile Rodgers</a> to a then-unknown <a href="spotify:artist:6XpaIBNiVzIetEPCWDvAFP">Whitney Houston</a> distinguished the avant funk of 1982's One Down, the final Material LP before a nearly decade-long hiatus; <a href="spotify:artist:5RISqKCcrhGITX2TQAPGPL">Laswell</a> finally reassembled the troops in 1989 to record the atmospheric Seven Souls, which spotlighted the spoken word performances of the legendary <a href="spotify:artist:3CcqTY5fsD6Bli5ecGhDKz">William S. Burroughs</a>. 1991's The Third Power brought the group back to its soulful roots, with guests including <a href="spotify:artist:2ZvrvbQNrHKwjT7qfGFFUW">Herbie Hancock</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6jJG408jz8VayohX86nuTt">Sly & Robbie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4RAQZfFgR7NPAWjKwUpEeC">Maceo Parker</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2iclO3rlyF0YVNE46ctYRj">the Jungle Brothers</a>; after 1994's Hallucination Engine, another four-year hiatus preceded the release of the remix collection The Road to the Western Lands. Intonarumori followed in 1999. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi