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At its inception in 1979, Material was an electric instrumental trio founded in New York by Bill Laswell with keyboardist Michael Beinhorn and drummer Fred Maher. The group was an integral part of what was then called the downtown "no-wave" scene, when avant-garde free jazz musicians would often share the same stage with punk rockers.

Over the years the Material name has gradually transcended the traditional concept of a "band" to embody something much larger; what was once a group has become a sprawling collective of like-minded artists and musicians that is constantly shifting in personnel and focus, all with Bill Laswell as the catalyst.

Known as some of the most prolific producer and musician ever, Bill Laswell still finds time to perform live all around the world namely with the Massacre trio (Fred Frith and Charles Hayward), or as initiator of the remarkable collective Tabla Beat Science (Zakir Hussain, Sultan Khan etc.).

But the tone is set from 2003 onwards, Material is reshaped and performs some of the greatest Laswell anthems such as " Mantra " or " Black Lotus " as well as some new tracks written and sung by the wonderful Ethiopian diva Gigi. The new Material line-up also includes live the unique Amina Claudine Myers and the ethiopian producer/keyboardist Abegasu Shiota. All driven by its unmatchable rhythm section (Hamid Drake x Karsh Kale x Aiyb Dieng) and featuring the legendary scratch pioneer GrandMixer DXT (brought to fame by Herbie Hancock's smash hit "Rockit").

A dub, drum'n'bass, jazz, funk, blues, worldbeat etc. odyssey which is joined by guitar hero Buckethead (Praxis, Death Cube K, ex Guns 'n' Roses).