Growing up in Chicago pursuing a career in jazz, one could hardly miss Delmark Records and the Jazz Record Mart. If you did, you were not paying attention. And in fact, since the label grew out of the store, a time honored record business model, Delmark Records and JRM are inseparable. I’d love to tell my story of Jazz Record Mart, a true indy record store still going strong, but that’s for another post. This one’s about Delmark.

Under any reasonable criteria Delmark Records is one of the greatest independent jazz and blues labels in the history of American music. Longevity? Try 50+ years and counting of high quality catalog output. There are few labels anywhere that lay claim to such a history. Classic recordings? The history of the formulation of blues and jazz music especially from the perspective of Chicago artists, could not be written without a fairly good percentage of the recordings Bob Koester and Delmark have produced. To say that Delmark’s recordings have changed the World is not hyperbole. Dedication, creativity and ingenuity? 50+ years don’t happen by accident. Koester and Delmark have searched and innovated and dedicated themselves always. And this applies to the music as well as to the business. I’m not sure which is more impressive and that’s saying a lot, especially if you’ve ever tried to make or sell a jazz record.

Why are we talking about Delmark? Glad you asked. It’s because today we are proud to announce the addition of some of Delmark’s impressive catalog to musicstem.com, Greenleaf Music’s store site. We wish we could offer all of it but that’s impossible even in the digital era. We think we’ve chosen some good ones however. I’ll just talk about a couple now and maybe in future posts, I’ll let you know about others. Please check out the three classic Anthony Braxton records we’re offering. These are mind blowing, late 1960s/early 1970s modern jazz classics that feature among others, Muhal Richard Abrams, Leroy Jenkins and Leo Smith. We’ve got 2 Sun Ra 1950s era recordings. These feature artists such as John Gilmore, Pat Patrick and an unheralded but great trumpeter named Art Hoyle, among others. These recordings open you up to an amazingly creative period in Sun Ra’s career that is less talked about than others. We’ve also got a recording that was an important one for me, and I’m assuming others as well, The Art Ensemble of Chicago’s “Live at Mandel Hall.” January, 1972, fresh off an extended stay in Europe, ACE returns to an enthusiastic and appreciative audience in their home base.

Please go to musicstem.com and check out this amazing body of work. As always, we offer GREAT prices and FREE shipping anywhere in the U.S.