Axiom was a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

founded by musician

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) 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, w ...

in 1990 with the support of Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.

History

In 1989, Chris Blackwell sold Island to PolyGram Records, PolyGram, which in 2000 became a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, with Blackwell remaining as CEO. In 1997, he resigned from PolyGram after struggling with what he saw as restrictive oversight of his management. Axiom was shut down but was reactivated when Blackwell started Palm Pictures. Palm scaled back its involvement in the music business, making Axiom dormant again. Axiom released Sonny Sharrock's ''Ask the Ages'' and Henry Threadgill's ''Too Much Sugar for a Dime'', as well as records by Laswell's bands such as Praxis (band), Praxis and Material (band), Material. A series of world music titles were also released by Axiom, including Simon Shaheen's tribute to Mohammed Abdel Wahab, L. Shankar, Shankar's ''Soul Searcher'' and field recordings of Gnawa music in Morocco, Mandinka people, Mandinka & Fula people, Fulani Music of the Gambia, and the Master Musicians of Jajouka in the Rif Mountains of Morocco. After moving to Palm Pictures, Axiom released only a handful of albums, notably by Material and the group Tabla Beat Science, which included Laswell, Zakir Hussain (musician), Zakir Hussain, Karsh Kale, and Ustad Sultan Khan.

Artists

*Umar Bin Hassan *Zakir Hussain (musician), Zakir Hussain *Karsh Kale *Ustad Sultan Khan *Material (band), Material *Praxis (band), Praxis *Simon Shaheen *L. Shankar *Sonny Sharrock *Tabla Beat Science *Henry Threadgill

References

External links

Bandcamp
article on Bill Laswell * {{Authority control American record labels Jazz record labels Island Records