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Taken from The Royal Library (May 14, 2019)
Star bassist and producer Bill Laswell and Danish group Kalaha
A transgenre cocktail of crazy ideas, unbridled energy and virtuoso instrumental touches, somewhere between West African funk and techno-rave
Friday 12 July 2019 at 20:00
Dronningesalen / The Queen's Hall
by The Royal Library Staff
Bill Laswell and Kalaha (Photo: Hiroshi Ohnuma and Flemming Bo Jensen) |
For more than three decades, Bill Laswell, the visionary bass-playing producer has been a high-profile, creative force in modern music. He has left his producer imprint on about 3000 releases with such artists as Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Bootsy Collins, Nine Inch Nails, Motorhead, Peter Gabriel, Blur, The Ramones, Sting, The Last Poets, Afrika Bambaataa, Julian Schnabel, Whitney Houston, Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti - and, in particular, Herbie Hancock. As a bass player, Laswell has left a distinctive mark on both his own and other people's projects - and here he is together with the Danish group Kahala.
The four musicians of Kahala have just won the prestigious Carl Pris as Roots Composer of the Year for their EP Mama Ngoma. They normally appear as a quartet and without a bass player, but for this occasion they have been strengthened by both the multi-instrumentalist Gustaf Ljunggren and none other than Bill Laswell himself on bass.
One will be able to hear Bill Laswell solo and Kalaha solo, but also together in a unique band. Bill Laswell calls his artistic style 'collision music', which has a liberal, creative attitude to the concept of genre. This must also be said to apply to Kahala's music. Here, inspiration comes in equal parts from West African funk, techno-rave and jazz improvisation. Kahala's music is thus a constantly changing mix of crazy ideas, unbridled energy and precision. A cross-genre cocktail of personal sound design and virtuoso instrumental touches.
Performing musicians:
Bill Laswell (bass, electronics
Emil de Waal (drums, electronics)
Niclas Knudsen (guitar, talk-box)
Jens Berents 'Space pistol' Christiansen (keyboards, electronics)
Mikael 'Scout robot' Elkjar (computer, electronics
Special guest: Gustaf Ljunggren (steel guitar)
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