Delmark Records Independent Blues and Jazz
Delmark Celebrates 55 Years Of Recording The Best In Jazz and Blues.
Apr 29, 2009
Delmark celebrates its 55th year as an independent record label and it has become a jazz phenomenon, recording and releasing some of the most innovative and adventurous music and musicians especially from the Chicago Jazz and Blues scene.
Starting Out In St Louis
Delmark Records was founded in 1953 by Bob Koester; he was only twenty one years old at the time. He had always had a deep love for traditional Jazz and Blues. A love he acquired while growing up in Wichita Kansas.
While at college in St Louis, he began selling records from his dorm, but soon out grew that. He also joined a jazz club, becoming one of the founding members of the club that had within its membership some of the most talented musician in St Louis in the late forties, early fifties.
It was at these group meetings that he would meet his first business partner one Ron Fister. Together they created R & F sales Bob Koester’s first record store. After almost a year of working together they split their inventory and Koster moved to the street that he would give the name of his record company.
The First Recordings and Moving To Chicago
On September 19th 1953, Bob Koester recorded the Windy City Six rendition of Royal Garden Blues. It was the first recording on Delmark
Soon after that record was released Koester began recording some of the great almost forgotten blues musician around. Blues men like J.D Short, Speckled Red and Big Joe Williams were recorded by the tiny upstart record company.
With these recordings Delmark quickly garnered recognition and earned the respect of the recording industry.
Koester moved to Chicago in August of 1956, setting up shop on Wabash Avenue, it did not work out and he soon had to move.
Delmark changed addresses a few more times before Koester bought a building at N Lincoln Ave and split the operation in two. He kept the offices at the new building and opened the Jazz Mart, the record store, on a new location on Grand Avenue.
Throughout its history Delmark records has sought to record and release some of the most innovative musicians and groups in the business and they have had great success to date.
They were the first to record the AACM. The Association for the Advancement of Creative musicians. This group was made of musicians who were never recorded before, but were on their way to becoming some of the most influential musicians in Chicago and indeed the world.
Members of the group included; Roscoe Mitchell Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, Joseph Jarman and Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre.
Over the past five decades Delmark has continued to attract many of Americas’ most adventurous jazz and blues musicians.
Groups like The Art Ensemble of Chicago which also includes Joseph Jarman, have recorded for the label.
Malachi Thompson, Kahil El Zabar and his various groups, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, The Ritual Trio and the Kahil El Zabar Trio have all released works on the label.
Violinist Billy Bang, Flautist Nicole Mitchell, Ari Brown, Bobby Broom, The Deep Organ Trio, Ken Vandermark, Eric Alexander, Byther Smith, Lurrie Bell, Big Time Sarah and many other have all found a home for their creativity at Delmark
Using New Technology
Delmark records in keeping with new technologies have begun to release many of their new recoding on DVD’s for those who can’t be in Chicago to catch the great saxophonist Fred Thompson or Deep Blue Organ Trio or Nicole Mitchell in concert. CD and DVD’s are now available from the Jazz Mart. Many of these concerts are filmed at the Green Mill and The Velvet Lounge two of Chicago’s famed jazz hotspots.
In 2004 Delmark released a five disc 4 CD’s and a DVD which give music lovers an over view of the work they have done documenting some of the greatest in Jazz and Blues.
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