Dr. Israel

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Dr. Israel (* 9. September 1967 in New Haven , Connecticut , as Douglas Bennett ) is an American singer, music producer and sound engineer. Dr. Israel operates its own Revolutionsound recording studio in Williamsburg , Brooklyn , New York .

Career

youth

Douglas Bennett grew up in Philadelphia . One of his cousins ​​was a DJ and made him known for catchy disco and funk music as well as psychedelic rock by Jimi Hendrix and reggae by Bob Marley . Reggae brought Bennett to the Bad Brains , who combined reggae and punk and which he describes as a great influence. "A big influence was Bad Brains (...) I've just always been a big fan of heavy sounds." He came to hardcore punk via the Bad Brains. With friends he went to concerts by Black Flag or the Suicidal Tendencies . He came to sampling via hip-hop and then tried to fuse hip-hop with reggae. Around 1993/1994 he got to know drum and bass . From all these influences the music of Dr. Israel together.

Career start and stage name

His musical career began with Dr. Israel as the guitarist of a punk band that, like the Bad Brains and The Clash, combined punk with reggae.

In 1993 Douglas Bennett made a kind of pilgrimage to Jamaica for religious reasons , where he lived in a Niyabinghi community and was given the new name Israel during a ritual by a friend . Bennett became an avowed supporter of the Rastafarian religion and henceforth appeared as Dr. Israel in appearance. To the north of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Israel established the Bass Mind Studios recording studio .

WordSound

In the mid-1990s, Dr. Israel got to know the producer and label boss of WordSound Recordings Sketch Fernando, Jr. through his studio work . A productive collaboration emerged, which was reflected in many compositions and remixes and led to Israel's debut album 7 Tales of Israel on the label in 1996 . With the Iranian-born musician Professor Shehab, Dr. Israel released the album Fusion in Dub under the project name Qaballah Steppers , on which Umar bin Hassan from The Last Poets also appeared as a guest vocalist ( Trust in Dub ). The two Dubadelic albums from 1998 and 2000 were created with Bill Laswell and other musicians from the WordSound environment .

Solo career

Although Douglas Bennett recorded various tracks for WordSound up to 2000, he released his solo albums as early as 1997 on other, constantly changing independent labels. The two albums Next Step and Product Three followed at short intervals , the latter under the project name Trumystik Sound System.

A larger audience reached Dr. Israel in 1998 with the album Inna City Pressure and the single The Doctor vs. The Wizard , a jungle interpretation of the Black Sabbath classic The Wizard . At Coppers (Brooklyn Version) there was a collaboration with the band Rancid from San Francisco, on whose album Life Won't Wait the original version was released. In addition, a D&B interpretation of Coxsone Dodd's Armagideon Time was included on the album . The promotion of the album and the European tour got a damper when the label went bankrupt.

Revolutionary sound

Since the turn of the millennium, Dr. Israel is located in a studio complex on Wythe Avenue, which, in addition to the New York Kickboxing Studio, also houses the Revolutionsound recording studio , where TV on the Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have already recorded.

With Revolutionsound, Dr. Israel works as a music producer for others or realizes its own projects such as Patterns of War with Dreadtone International and Friction with his former band Seven. He is currently working on an anti-prison project called The Jim Crow . The name is inspired by Michelle Alexander's book The New Jim Crow and deals with the injustice of the legal system. Former and currently imprisoned black musicians from the Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon (Ohio) as well as from Philadelphia and New York deal with their racist experiences in prison in their own songs. These will be released on a crowdfunded album in 2018. The already released Die Jim Crow EP , which is intended to generate donations and attention for the Die Jim Crow LP , gives a first impression .

music

As multicultural as the melting pot New York City is also the music of Dr. Israel. His accents are on reggae , dub and punk music , but there are also strong influences from jungle , drum and bass, hip-hop as well as oriental and African elements, which can be heard in the type of percussion and the instrumentation used. This diversity is particularly evident in the title Jacob's Ladder , which is available in two jungle versions (LP Product Three and Certified Dope Vol. 2 ) and as punk reggae (LP Friction ). The track Life In the Ghetto , which describes the lack of prospects for a young couple in a ghetto, exists both as rap (LP Inna City Pressure ) and as a drum 'n' bass version (LP Product Three ).

By working with WordSound, Dr. Israel to the co-founders of the mystical-dark music direction Illbient .

After the end of the collaboration with the Wordsound label, Dr. Israel continues to be active and musically flexible. He has worked with many different artists so far, for example with the grindcore group Disassociate, the dub pioneer Mad Professor , the California punk band Rancid, the metal band Sepultura , the Easy Star All-Stars , the rapper Killah Priest from the area of the Wu-Tang Clan and the electroduo Techno Animal. Several of his songs are featured on various compilations.

Quotes

  • “We work in a similar way to Bruce Lee . He came from traditional Kung Fu and combined Tae-kwon-do, various martial arts into an effective combat system for his own martial discipline. That's the basic idea of ​​combining styles. "(Dr. Israel)

Guest appearances in film

  • 2006: Ascend Into Zion (short film)
  • 2005: Prime
  • 2004: Awake Zion

Discography

Albums

  • 1996 Dr. Israel: 7 Tales of Israel (Wordsound)
  • 1997 Dr. Israel & Brooklyn Jungle Soundsystem: Next Step (Baraka Foundation)
  • 1997 Dr. Israel & Trumystic Sound System: Product Three (Paradigm / Mutant Soundsystem)
  • 1998 Dr. Israel: Inna City Pressure (Paradigm / Mutant Soundsystem)
  • 2001 Dr. Israel & Brooklyn Jungle Soundsystem: Black Rose Liberation (Baraka Foundation)
  • 2002 Dr. Israel and Seven: Friction (Revolution Sound)
  • 2002 Dr. Israel vs. Dr. X: Another Day in Babylon (Baboon)
  • 2005 Dr. Israel presents Dreadtone International: Patterns of War (ROIR)
  • 2011 Dr. Israel feat. Patch & Katrina Blackstone: Live at Dub Mission SF (Revolution Sound)
  • 2012 Dr. Israel: The Liberation Chronicles: Ghetto Defendant EP (Revolution Sound )
  • 2012 Dr. Israel: Ghetto Defendant: Remixes (Revolution Sound )

Singles

  • 1997 Dr. Israel & Trumystic Sound System: Junglist (12 ", Paradigm / Mutant Soundsystem)
  • 1997 Dr. Israel: The Doctor / Above & Beyond (12 ", Paradigm / Mutant Soundsystem)
  • 1998 Dr. Israel: Final Resistance / Southside (12 ", Baraka Foundation)
  • 2000 soothsayer vs. Dr. Israel: Down That Road , Pressure and Livin 'in Brooklyn (Amethyst)
  • 2001 Systemwide feat. Dr. Israel: Crisis Time (7 "/ 12", BSI Records)
  • 2010 Dr. Israel: The Good, The Bad, And The Junglist / NIB SLAM (12 ", Zion's Gate Records)
  • 2014 Brooklyn Jungle Soundsystem (Dr. Israel, Dub Gabriel, Lady K.): Kulture (7 ", Destroy All Concepts)

Collaborations

  • 1995 Qaballah Steppers - Fusion in Dub : Dr. Israel & Professor Shehab: Fusion in Dub
  • 1998 Dubadelic - Bass Invaders : Dr. Israel & Bill Laswell : Sirius Bass (Wordsound)
  • 1998 Disassociate - Symbols, Signals & Noise : Blood in My Eye Pt. 2 (Crooklyn Remix) (Devastating Soundworks)
  • 1999 Qaballah Steppers - Passage At Noon ; No Room For Mine , Brooklyn Rumba (Baraka)
  • 2000 Dubadelic - A Bass Odyssey : Dr. Israel & Bill Laswell: Spirit of '76 (Wordsound)
  • 2001 Qaballah Steppers - Imaginatrix : Silence (Baraka)
  • 2010 The Blood of Heroes - The Blood of Heroes (Ohm Resistance)
  • 2012 The Blood of Heroes - The Waking Nightmare (Ohm Resistance)

Guest vocal

  • 2001 Sepultura - Nation : Tribe to a Nation (Roadrunner Records)
  • 2002 Ming and FS - Subway Series : Steady Shot (OM Records)
  • 2003 Easy Star All-Stars - Dub Side Of The Moon : Brain Damage (Easystar)
  • 2008 Other Weapons - Basis to Break This : Dr. Israel, Juakali & Lady K .: Back Flow (Destroy All Concepts)
  • 2009 Heavyweight Dub Champion - Rise of the Champion Nation : Dawn (Champion Nation Recordings)
  • 2010 Process Rebel feat. Dr. Israel - Call Me Bloodfire EP (Blipswitch Digital)
  • 2012 Alpha & Omega feat. Dr. Israel - Revolution In The City (7 ", ZamZam Sounds)

Sampler

  • 1995: Mind The Gap, Vol. 7 : Dr. Israel & Techno Animal: Specter Morphology , The Resurrection of Dr. Israel (Gonzo Circus)
  • 1996: Crooklyn Dub Consortium - Certified Dope, Vol. 1 : Saidisyabruklinmon (Wordsound)
  • 1996: Crooklyn Dub Consortium - Certified Dope, Vol. 2 : Jacob's Ladder (version) (Wordsound)
  • 1996: Electric Ladyland II : Dr. Israel & Techno Animal: Cyborg Dread Invokes The Phantom Priest ( Mille Plateaux )
  • 1996: Land Of Baboon: An Illclectic Collection Of Brooklyn Sounds : Residence Dub (Silent)
  • 1997: DJ-Kicks / Rockers Hi-Fi - The Black Album : Dr. Israel vs. Loop: Saidisyabruklinmon Nobwoycyantess ( Studio! K7 )
  • 1997: Shake The Nations : Saidisyabruklinmon Nobwoycyantess (Dr. Israel Remix) , Trust (Dr. Israel and Professor Shehab Remix) , Freedom Street (Dr. Israel Remix) and Psalm 87 (Captain Kowatchi Remix) (Wordsound)
  • 1997: Valis II - Everything Must Go : Specter Meets Dr. Israel: World of Destruction (Ion)
  • 1997: The Spirit of Vampyros Lesbos : Vampya Killa (Sideburn Recordings)
  • 1998: Brooklyn Beat Rockers: Makin Money (Mutant Soundsystem)
  • 2003: Babylon Is Ours - The USA in Dub : Systemwide feat. Dr. Israel & DJ Collage: Where You Gonna Run (Select Cuts)
  • 2003: The Observation of Ruins Southside - Majesty : The Crowned King (Baraka)
  • 2011: Awake Zion Soundtrack : Dr. Israel: Together (Awake Zion)

producer

  • 2016: Artists in Prison: The Jim Crow EP (Revolution Sound)
  • 2018: Artists in Prison: Die Jim Crow LP (Revolution Sound)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mosi Reeves: Dr. Israel: Dub artist expanding his scope In: San Francisco Chronicle of December 29, 2011.
  2. ^ Ascend To Zion - The Dr. Israel Interview In: Clubplanet, May 29, 2001.
  3. ↑ vh1.com: Dr. Israel Gets His Chops Down For Next LP / Experimental musician cites writings of late Kung Fu icon Bruce Lee as inspiration for stylistic mix on album. by Contributing Editor Kembrew McLeod (1998)
  4. ↑ Club Planet: Ascend To Zion - The Dr. Israel Interview (May 29, 2001)
  5. ↑ "I had an experience in a Niyabinghi compound in Jamaica where I had spent some time with the elders. This was kind of the whole culmination of this spiritual pilgrimage that I had done, extrapolating certain parts of the Old Testament, like the prophecies of Jeremiah. What they felt it was for me to do spiritually was to play the role of someone like Jeremiah, to be in this concrete situation and send a message from within it rather than to be outside in Paradise. " (Clubplanet).
  6. ↑ Myspace presence by Dr. Israel (as of 01/2010)
  7. ^ Ascend To Zion - The Dr. Israel Interview In: Clubplanet, May 29, 2001.
  8. ↑ The Jim Crow on Bandcamp .
  9. ↑ http://drisrael.bandcamp.com/album/inna-city-pressure
  10. ↑ http://drisrael.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-dub-mission-sf
  11. ↑ http://drisrael.bandcamp.com/album/ghetto-defendant
  12. ↑ Brooklyn Jungle Soundsystem: Kulture on YouTube .
  13. ↑ Disassociate - Symbols, Signals & Noise on Discogs .
  14. ↑ The Jim Crow EP .
personal data
SURNAME Dr. Israel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bennett, Douglas (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH New Haven , Connecticut