BILL LASWELL'S WORLDLY HIGH (PART 2)
by S.H. Fernando Jr.
Apocalypse Across the Sky: The Master Musicians of Jajouka, one of Axiom's best sellers, is one of many CDs hanging on a rack at Laswell's Mission control, Greenpoint Studios in Brooklyn. It is surrounded by other label releases (the Brazilian polyrhthms of Bahia Black, Umar Bin Hassan's Be Bop Or Be Dead, Praxis' Transmutation, and of course, the new Material, Hallucination Engine), independent projects (Blind Idiot God, Golden Palominos, Yothu Yindi), and various underground gems from two more recent Laswell excursions – the Black Arc series (distributed by Rykodisc) featuring "black rock, cyberfunk and future blues," and Subharmonic, an experimental label distributed by Caroline.
But that's only the half of it. Inside the double doors of the studio, to the right, is a solid wall of master reels that stretches back through Laswell's career - including recordings by Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, George Clinton and most of the P-Funk family, Sly & Robbie, Yellowman, Fela, The Last Poets, Jungle Brothers. The list runs deep revealing a true music lover's mecca. Greenpoint is, in fact, Laswell's sacred space, humming with creative energy, rife with possibilities, and serious as a séance - though comedy abounds around every corner. Where else, after all, can you be treated to the goofy antics of a grinning, Jheri-curled Bootsy Collins one day, only to find painter Julian Schnabel recording some self-penned country/western ballads the next?
Keeping ahead of the chaos curve demands focus and composure, and Laswell embodies both these qualities as he hovers behind two vintage German
Neve consoles that form an L-shaped, analog altar in the corner opposite the tape library. This area is cordoned off from the rest of the cavernous
space, which houses all sorts of sonic gear, by foam barriers, massive stereo monitors, and racks of technology. Communicating with head engineer
Bob Musso with sometimes only a hand signal or a facial gesture, the tough-looking soft-spoken Laswell puts in full days here, churning out and
releasing product in a fraction of the time it takes a major label to do the same. With over 200 releases to his credit, he's got science down
to an art and vice-versa.
"Bill knows exactly what he wants on tape, and how he goes about getting it is quite remarkable," says Hassan Heiserman, who has known Laswell since he first came to New York. He's a master at getting out of people what is required for any given situation or project."
Oz Fritz, one of Laswell's regular engineers, says, "Yeah, like often, when someone is playing, he'll just go there and stand beside them, so, yunno, that there's something internally going on. It's like something is coming down through the musician and Bill is helping facilitate that."
In fact, Laswell's treatment of his fellow musicians, whom he often refers to as "Doctor", is as reverential as his treatment of industry and business types is not. He can easily switch from nurturing producer to Mr. Hyde in the time it takes to step outside the studio and answer a phone call from someone who's not seeing it his way. But it's this uncompromising attitude in matters of business along with his sense of mission that has allowed him to pull off projects that might never have happened otherwise.
And there is the ever-powerful instinct. In the studio, assistant engineer Layng Martine says, "Bill really pays attention more than anything to the vibe, the feeling of what's going on. His style is just really hands off, and he sort of lets it create itself and it works. He's very open to whatever happens." But as spontaneous as things often seem, one can't help feeling that the blue prints are locked away out of sight, in Laswell's head.
"It's phenomenal, really," says Heiserman. "A very magical process goes on here."