# Material (band)
**Material** was an American experimental band and production project formed in 1979 in New York City by bassist and producer Bill Laswell, multi-instrumentalist Michael Beinhorn, and drummer Fred Maher, all staples of the downtown New York underground scene. The group, which critic Jason Ankeny credited with pioneering a fusion of jazz, funk, and punk that also incorporated hip-hop and world music, later functioned primarily as a name for Laswell's production work with a rotating cast of collaborators.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1979, New York, NY; original lineup Bill Laswell, Michael Beinhorn, Fred Maher[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) |
| Origin of the group | Began as the backing unit for Daevid Allen of Gong, recording *About Time* as New York Gong[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) |
| First release | Debut EP *Temporary Music* (1979)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-laswell-p6948) |
| Key albums | *Memory Serves* (1981), *One Down* (1982), *Seven Souls* (1989), *The Third Power* (1991), *Hallucination Engine* (1994), *Intonarumori* (1999)[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) |
| Notable guests | Whitney Houston, Nile Rodgers, William S. Burroughs, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Sharrock, Fred Frith, Henry Threadgill[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) |
| Signature production | Co-production of Herbie Hancock's genre-crossing "Rockit" (1983)[3](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/bill-laswell/) |
| Active years | 1970s through 1990s; disbanded 1999[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) |
## Origins
Material began as a loose collective of New York musicians rather than a fixed band. The group was originally formed to back Daevid Allen when the former [Gong](https://www.edgepedia.org/gong-band) leader toured the United States; the collaboration produced the album *About Time*, credited to New York Gong. After that, a small core of Laswell, Beinhorn, and Maher continued under the Material name, around which an ever-changing string of one-off gigging and recording lineups formed.[4](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/material/)
The name was established with the EP *Temporary Music I* in 1979, four songs produced by Giorgio Gomelsky. Early Material sat within the early-1980s New York jazz- and funk-influenced post-punk scene, filtering funk, avant-garde, jazz, and electronic elements through a harsh punk sensibility.[5](https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/material/temporary-music-compilation) Trouser Press critics Mark Fleischmann and Glenn Kenny described that first EP as the work of a promising progressive-rock band toying with funk, with the funk-rock fusion taking hold on the follow-up releases.[4](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/material/)
## The early 1980s albums
**Memory Serves (1981).** After the debut, the group's ranks swelled to include musicians ranging from guitarist Sonny Sharrock to reed player Henry Threadgill to multi-instrumentalist Fred Frith, and this expanded lineup recorded *Memory Serves*. It was the band's most jazz-tinged album, with prominent jazz players throughout, and Trouser Press called it a highly original crossover of black classical and dance music refined with a rock sensibility.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) • [4](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/material/)
**One Down (1982).** The second full-length extended the experiment to urban pop, with a guest list running from [Nile Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/nile-rodgers) to a then-unknown [Whitney Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/whitney-houston), alongside Nona Hendryx, Frith, and Oliver Lake. Houston's lead vocal on "Memories," a song written by [Hugh Hopper](https://www.edgepedia.org/hugh-hopper), was among her first lead vocal performances and preceded her solo breakthrough by three years.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) • [6](https://jazzprofiles.com/profile/bill-laswell/) *One Down* was the final Material LP before a hiatus of nearly a decade.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865)
## Production work and side projects
Material was as much a production unit as a performing band. Under the Material name, Laswell became the de facto house producer for the [Celluloid](https://www.edgepedia.org/celluloid) label until it was sold in the 1980s, and the group's co-production of [Herbie Hancock](https://www.edgepedia.org/herbie-hancock)'s "Rockit" (1983) remains one of Laswell's hallmark achievements; the song came from a chance meeting between Laswell and Hancock at [Elektra Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/elektra-records), in which Hancock expressed interest in music in the vein of Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals."[3](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/bill-laswell/) In 1984 the pivotal single "World Destruction" paired Material's Laswell and Beinhorn with Afrika Bambaataa and John Lydon, a marriage of hip-hop and heavy rock.[7](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/material-bill-laswell-list)
The personnel also overlapped with other projects. In 1982 Laswell, Maher, and Frith combined as Massacre, a radical power trio whose album *Killing Time* paired composed material with tough, sinewy improvisations.[4](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/material/)
## From band to Laswell's process
The group shrank over time. Michael Beinhorn left in 1985, and by the mid-1980s Material was effectively Laswell alone, composing, organizing sessions, and producing. Bandcamp Daily's George Grella described the entity as less a band than a process, a way of making something out of other musicians' contributions, comparable to [Robert Fripp](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-fripp)'s description of [King Crimson](https://www.edgepedia.org/king-crimson).[8](https://musicbase.net/material) • [7](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/material-bill-laswell-list)
Laswell revived the name for a series of albums in the 1990s that moved toward world, dub, and ambient textures:[8](https://musicbase.net/material)
- **Seven Souls (1989).** The comeback album spotlighted spoken-word performances by [William S. Burroughs](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-s-burroughs), who read passages from his novel *The Western Lands* over tracks spanning world music styles, with percussion from [Sly Dunbar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sly-dunbar) and Aïyb Dieng.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) • [4](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/material/)
- **The Third Power (1991).** A return to soulful roots with guests including Herbie Hancock, Sly and Robbie, Maceo Parker, and the Jungle Brothers; the Bandcamp Daily account adds [Fred Wesley](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-wesley), Pee Wee Ellis, Bootsy Collins, and Shabba Ranks to the personnel.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) • [7](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/material-bill-laswell-list)
- **Hallucination Engine (1994).** Combined Gnawa music, dub, jazz, funk, and hip-hop, with a Wayne Shorter solo, a return appearance by Burroughs, and a cover of Weather Report's "Cucumber Slumber."[7](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/material-bill-laswell-list)
- **The Road to the Western Lands** and **Intonarumori (1999).** A four-year hiatus after *Hallucination Engine* preceded the remix collection *The Road to the Western Lands*; *Intonarumori*, named for Luigi Russolo's Futurist noise machines, followed in 1999 and drew on samples of other Laswell projects, including his work with The Golden Palominos and The Last Poets.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) • [7](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/material-bill-laswell-list)
AllMusic lists the group as disbanded in 1999.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865)
## Style and significance
Material's output ranged from angular art-funk on *Memory Serves* to club-friendly, futuristic electro-pop on *One Down*, and later to the world-music-inflected albums of the 1990s.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-laswell-p6948) AllMusic's Jason Ankeny credits the group with pioneering a fusion of jazz, funk, and punk that incorporated hip-hop and world music before either entered the mass cultural consciousness.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865) The band's guest-heavy, producer-led method anticipated the role Laswell's Material name played for the rest of his career: a flexible banner under which musicians from funk, jazz, dub, and hip-hop could be combined album by album.[7](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/material-bill-laswell-list)
## References
1. [Material Biography by Jason Ankeny, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-mn0000386865)
2. [Bill Laswell Biography by Jason Ankeny, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-laswell-p6948)
3. [Bill Laswell, Trouser Press](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/bill-laswell/)
4. [Material, Trouser Press (Mark Fleischmann and Glenn Kenny)](https://trouserpress.com/reviews/material/)
5. [Material – Temporary Music Compilation reviews, Jazz Music Archives](https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/material/temporary-music-compilation)
6. [Bill Laswell profile, JazzProfiles](https://jazzprofiles.com/profile/bill-laswell/)
7. [Living in Material's World by George Grella, Bandcamp Daily (August 15, 2024)](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/material-bill-laswell-list)
8. [Material – bands, collaborators & records, musicbase](https://musicbase.net/material)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Rock, pop, and metal bands › Rock, indie, and pop groups › Rock bands › Funk rock and rap rock bands*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license