History
Founder Steven Joerg is a native of Chicago [4] and has stated that in high school he was heavily influenced by the do-it-yourself (DIY) approach of punk rock, especially labels such as SST Records. [3] Moving to New York City after graduating college, [4] Joerg worked for Bar/None Records. He became a manager of the indie rock label Homestead Records in 1992, where he signed and promoted albums by Babe the Blue Ox, Tara Key, Sleepyhead, Soul-Junk, and others. After releasing a well-received album by free jazz drummer William Hooker, Joerg convinced a reluctant Homestead to sign notable jazz musician David S. Ware and his Quartet. Their first release on the label, Cryptology, received a lead review in Rolling Stone . [3]
Joerg left Homestead in December 1996 and founded AUM Fidelity in Brooklyn in January 1997. His intent was to concentrate on modern jazz. [5] He liquidated his savings, sold half his record collection, and took out a loan. The label derived its name partially from the Charles Mingus album Mingus Ah Um , but mostly from Om, the mantra representing the "soundless sound of the universe, the original tone and source of all creation". Not low fidelity or high fidelity, but AUM Fidelity." [6] The label launched in September 1997 with the release of David S. Ware's Wisdom of Uncertainty, and William Parker's Sunrise in the Tone World. [3] [7]
AUM has released over 90 albums which have been acclaimed around the world. [4] In addition to Ware and Parker, artists who have recorded for the label include Joe Morris, Whit Dickey, Other Dimensions in Music, Test, Farmers by Nature, Matthew Shipp, Mat Maneri, Hamid Drake, Rob Brown, Daniel Carter, Roy Campbell, Cooper-Moore, Chad Taylor, Roy Nathanson, Kidd Jordan, Eri Yamamoto, Gerald Cleaver, Craig Taborn, Bill Dixon, Jim Hobbs/The Fully Celebrated, Darius Jones, Little Women, Mike Pride, and others. [8] AUM Fidelity began distributing Joe Morris' Riti label in 2002. In 2003 it co-launched the CaseQuarter label, [1] which is devoted to gospel music of the American south.
AUM Fidelity has supported the New York City downtown jazz scene. [4] [3] Joerg has volunteered at the Vision Festival since 1996 and produced Vision One, a two-disc benefit compilation of material recorded at the festival. [5] AUM Fidelity was asked by musician and artist John Zorn to curate his avant-garde locale The Stone for June 16–30, 2011, which featured performances by many of the label's artists, including its then most recent signing, alto saxophonist/composer Darius Jones. [3] In January 2009, the label was instrumental in finding a kidney donor for David S. Ware. [4] Following his recovery and prior to his passing, Ware released five new albums with the label, including a recording of his final concert appearance, Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2011. Setsuko S. Ware, David Ware's widow, and Joerg produced the Memorial Service for David S. Ware, which took place on January 7, 2013. [9] [10]
AUM Fidelity celebrated its 15th anniversary in June 2011 with two weeks of curated performances at the Stone, and culminated with a series of concerts in June 2012 at Suoni Per Il Popolo (Montreal) and Vision Festival (New York City). [4] [11] William Parker's 8-CD box set, Wood Flute Songs , was produced the following year and released in late 2013, garnering a 5-star review in Down Beat and chosen as the No.1 Archive Release of the Year by The Wire . [12] AUM continues to produce new recordings, and in 2015 launched the David S. Ware Archive Series (DSW-ARC) with a fully remixed & wholly expanded edition of Ware's first (1977) recordings as a bandleader, Birth of a Being .
