In 1989, Chris Blackwell sold Island to
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 and
Material. A series of
world music titles were also released by Axiom, including
Simon Shaheen's tribute to
Mohammed Abdel Wahab,
Shankar's
Soul Searcher and field recordings of
Gnawa music in Morocco,
Mandinka &
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,
Karsh Kale, and
Ustad Sultan Khan. ==Artists==