[1] AFO was founded in New Orleans in 1961 by Harold Battiste, who was an established composer, arranger, and performer.
"[4] House musicians for AFO included Harold Battiste, Red Tyler, Roy Montrell, Peter Badie, John Boudreaux and Melvin Lastie.
[7] In 1963, Battiste and other members of the collective moved to Los Angeles, in hopes of greater success.
[8] In 1991, Battiste, who had returned to New Orleans, restarted the project and leased much of the AFO catalog to Ace Records,[8] who used them to produce a series of compilations beginning with Gumbo Stew.
By 2007, Battiste created the AFO Foundation to protect and nurture the resources of AFO Records and Battiste's music publishing company, At Last Publishing.