ASHÉ is a word of many meanings: blessings, energy, power, confidence – people, objects, music, and ideas.
If they’ve got “ashé,” they’ve got energy and power in the purest sense.
In Cuba, they call it “aché,” and in Brazil, “axe.” This word is also used both in Africa and Tibet, with the same meanings.

ASHÉ RECORDS is here to bring you music con aché! 

Ashé Records is a woman-owned independent label specializing in music from the Caribbean, the African diaspora, and much more. It springs from the vision of GRAMMY®-nominated record producer and singer-songwriter Rachel Faro with additional support from her musical partner, legendary percussionist Sammy Figueroa. Ashé was formed in November 1996 as a partnership between Rachel and German-based producer Helge Sasse and initially sprang from Rachel's travels and productions in Cuba, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico.

Ashé's first years were under the wing of famed independent label Rounder Records, which provided staff and infrastructure for the new label. Our first release was Lazaro Ros' Songs for Elegua, the Yoruba deity that rules the crossroads and opens the gates. Amazingly, this first release, comprised of Afro-Cuban ceremonial music, remains our best-selling release to this day! Further releases included Puerto Rican icon Yomo Toro and a comprehensive boxed set of Cuba's #1 dance band Los Van Van. Other releases included a Christmas album by famed folk singer Odetta and Afro-Borinquen plena/bomba group Paracumbé.

In 2001, Rounder Records dropped all of their distributed labels as they moved into a new chapter of ownership by Concord Records. We at Ashé will always be grateful to Rounder's owners for the initial support we received as a fledgling record label. This period marked the beginning of digital consumption of recorded music and the bottom falling out of physical CD sales. As subsequent distributors went bankrupt, Ashé signed a deal with IODA (Independent Online Distribution Association), which helped bring our music to iTunes and Amazon. For several years we depended on downloads for sales until the development of Spotify and other streaming services. When Sony-owned digital distributor The Orchard was founded, they took ownership of IODA, and Ashé remains a proud Orchard-distributed label to this day.

From 2004 to 2015, Ashé was in a lull, discouraged by the bankruptcy of various physical distributors and the diminishment of income caused by the new streaming services such as Spotify taking over consumers' listening habits. No releases and no promotion occurred as Rachel and Helge went on to other endeavors. But thanks to The Orchard, Ashé's music continued to be available and loved by many of its listeners.

Around 2014, Ashé found a new model, which enabled several new releases. Rather than depending on sales to fund their production and promotion, we realized that patronage was the only path with which to move forward. Production of releases began to be funded by grants, corporate sponsorship, film budgets, crowdfunding, and the artists themselves. Based on this model we were able to move forward and expand into releases by wonderful singer-songwriters, Tibetan chants, and ambient music, maintaining the same vision of fresh and uplifted qualities that marked our mission from the beginning.

We at Ashé continue to offer music of the highest quality with love and vision. We consider our artists, publicists, radio promoters and The Orchard to be our family and all components of a team offering music that brings out the best in humanity and furthers a vision for a better world.