Biography
Established in 1996 by St. Louis, Missouri natives Richard Gannaway and Jay Oliver, AO Music—most often shortened to AO—arose as a pan-cultural world music outfit recognized for exotic rhythms, cinematic cosmopolitan textures, and vocals that arrive both multi-layered and multi-lingual. Gannaway, a multi-instrumentalist composer/producer who had co-founded indie rockers Tiger & the Helix, joined forces with keyboardist/producer Oliver, whose résumé included work alongside jazz greats Maynard Ferguson and Chick Corea; the pair held a common admiration for artists drawing from world music traditions such as Peter Gabriel, Deep Forest, Bill Whelan, and Värttinä. Seeking to refine their singular hybrid approach, the duo issued their debut album, Grow Wild, on Gannaway’s Arcturian Gate label in 2000. The following year found the group in Southeast Asia, where the Beijing Olympic Committee reached out, resulting in a commission to compose theme music for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Bollywood film composer Sandeep Chowta entered as contributing producer in 2004, and two years later renowned South African-born British singer and composer Miriam Stockley joined the ensemble. Their long-awaited sophomore LP, Twirl, surfaced in 2009, succeeded in 2011 by the acclaimed ...And Love Rages On!. Hokulea arrived in 2014, followed in 2017 by their ambitious fifth studio long player, Asha. In addition to recording, AO oversees the AO Foundation International, a non-profit organization supporting children orphaned by natural disaster and conflict.
Albums
