The Last Poets are several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who believed he was in the last era of poetry before guns would take over. The original users of that name were the trio of Abiodun Oyewole, Gylan Kain, and David Nelson.
William Otis Laswell is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, world music, jazz, dub, and ambient styles.
Pharoah Sanders is an American jazz saxophonist. A member of John Coltrane's groups of the mid-1960s, Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound". He has released over 30 albums as a leader and has collaborated extensively with Leon Thomas and Alice Coltrane, among others. Saxophonist Ornette Coleman described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world".
Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin was an American poet and musician. He was one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in New York City.
Umar Bin Hassan is an American poet and recording artist, associated with The Last Poets. He sold his younger sister's record player to purchase a bus ticket to New York City, where he joined the Last Poets. In the mid-1990s, he recorded a solo album titled Be Bop or Be Dead on Bill Laswell's Axiom Records through Island/PolyGram.
Abiodun Oyewole, is a poet, teacher and member of the African-American music and spoken-word group The Last Poets, which developed into what is considered to be the first hip hop group. Critic Jason Ankeny wrote, "With their politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, the Last Poets almost single-handedly laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop."
Axiom was a record label founded by musician Bill Laswell in 1990 with the support of Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.
Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool is a compilation album in the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series with performers from jazz, pop, rock, and rap. "Stolen Moments" is a jazz standard composed by Oliver Nelson in 1961.
"Party and Bullshit" is a song by American hip hop artist The Notorious B.I.G., credited as BIG. The song is the artist's debut single and was released as the fourth promotional single for the soundtrack to the 1993 film Who's the Man?.
Lord of the Harvest is a 1993 album by Bootsy Collins under the alias Zillatron and was produced by Collins and Bill Laswell.
Funkcronomicon is a 1995 various artists collection of tracks produced by Bill Laswell under the name Axiom Funk, after Laswell's associated record label. It is a 2-CD set that was released by Island Records. Funkcronomicon features heavy participation from various members of Parliament-Funkadelic, to the degree that Funkcronomicon is widely considered to be a full-fledged P-Funk album. The album features what may be Pedro Bell's last authentic artistic renderings, as well as P-Funk guitarist Eddie Hazel's last recordings before his death in 1992. The album comprises newly recorded tracks, as well as tracks that have been featured on other Bill Laswell productions. Produced and compiled at Greenpoint Studio in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Funkcronomicon contains songs that were recorded as early as Maceo Parker's For All the Kings Men (1989) period. The album title is a play on Necronomicon, a fictional book.
Blacktronic Science is the third solo album by former Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell. The album was released by Gramavision records in 1993 and was produced by Bill Laswell and Bernie Worrell. The album represents a P-Funk reunion of sorts, as it features guest appearances by George Clinton, bassist Bootsy Collins, trombonist Fred Wesley, saxophonist Maceo Parker and P-Funk vocalist Gary Cooper. It would also be the last album that Bernie Worrell would record for the Gramavision label.
Jungle Bass is an EP by American funk band Bootsy's Rubber Band. The disc was released in 1990 by 4th & Broadway Records. Jungle Bass reunites most of the original members of Bootsy's Rubber Band, whose last album was released in 1979. The album represents one of the earliest collaborations between Bootsy and producer Bill Laswell.
Pieces of Woo: The Other Side is the fourth solo album by former Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell. The album was released by CMP Records in Germany in 1993, and would be the only album that Bernie Worrell would record for the label. Notably, none of the tracks contain drums or percussion. Pieces of Woo features Fred Wesley, Buckethead and Umar Bin Hassan from the Last Poets.
Free Agent: A Spaced Odyssey is the fifth solo album by former Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell. The album was released by Polystar Records in Japan in 1997. The album features guest musicians Buckethead, Umar Bin Hassan and Bill Laswell. Free Agent has never been distributed by any major or independent record label outside Japan.
Under The 6 is a 1993 album by the band Slave Master. The album was released by the Polystar label in Japan and then by Rykodisc the U.S. and UK the next year. Slave Master is fronted by Islam Shabazz and Bill McKinney and was brought together by producer Bill Laswell. Under The 6 was part of the Black Arc Series, launched by Laswell in 1992.
This is a list of releases by Material.
Axiom Collection series of albums are compilations from the Axiom record label released between 1991 and 1996.
Rhythmagick is the debut solo album by percussionist Aïyb Dieng, it was released in 1995 by P-Vine Records.
Be Bop or Be Dead is the debut solo album by the American musician and Last Poet Umar Bin Hassan, released in 1993. Hassan had spent many of the preceding years isolated from his group and his music while dealing with drug and personal issues. The album was a commercial disappointment.
