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 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.
AUM010/11 – 1998: The Peach Orchard by William Parker (In Order to Survive)
AUM012 – 1999: Test by Test (Tom Bruno, Sabir Mateen, Matthew Heyner, Daniel Carter
AUM013 – 2000: Time Is of the Essence Is Beyond Time by Other Dimensions in Music (Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, William Parker, Rashid Bakr, with special guest Matthew Shipp)
AUM014 – 2000: Soul Search by Joe Morris & Mat Maneri
AUM015/16 – 2000: Mayor of Punkville by William Parker (& The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra)
CENT1012 – 2016: Stan's Hat Flapping in the Wind by William Parker performed by Cooper–Moore &
Lisa Sokolov
CENT1013 – 2017: Bass Duo by William Parker & Stefano Scodanibbio
CENT1015/16/17 – 2018: Voices Fall From The Sky [Box Set] by William Parker
CENT1018/19 – 2018: Flower in A Stained-Glass Window & The Blinking of The Ear by William Parker
CENT1020-ADV – 2020: Trencadís [a selection from Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World] by William Parker
CENT1020-1029 – 2021: Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World [Box Set] by William Parker (Various Ensembles)
CENT1030 – 2022: Universal Tonality [Box Set] by William Parker
CaseQuarter (co–launched & distributed by AUM Fidelity; dedicated to sacred music of the American South)
CASE101 – 2003: God's Got It: The Legendary Booker and Jackson Singles by Reverend Charlie Jackson
CASE102 – 2004: You Without Sin, Cast the First Stone by Isaiah Owens
CASE103 – 2006: Singing Songs of Praise by The Spiritualaires of Hurtsboro, Alabama
CASE104 – 2009: I Got Two Wings: Incidents and Anecdotes of The Two–Winged Preacher and Electric Guitar Evangelist [Book+CD] by Elder Utah Smith (book by Lynn Abbott)