Delmark Records
| Delmark Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Founded | 1953 |
| Founder | Bob Koester |
| Distributor(s) | Many |
| Genre | Jazz, blues |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Official website | www |
Delmark Records is the oldestAmerican jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953, when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.
Born in 1932 in Wichita, Kansas, to a family of German descent, Bob Koester began collecting records in high school. Initially a jazz fan, Koester also developed a taste for the blues from the intricate relationship these musics shared in the 1940s and 1950s.
Moving from Wichita to St Louis, Missouri, to attend college, Koester began his career as a record trader in his dormitory room. Joining a local Jazz Club gave Koester his first taste of live jazz, seeing Clark Terry perform. Koester made acquaintance with a fellow Jazz Club member, Ron Fister, with whom he opened his first record shop - K & F Sales. Shortly after opening in an old restaurant storefront, they changed the name to the Blue Note Record Shop. About a year after this joint venture, Fister and Koester decided to part ways, with Koester moving to a new location on the corner of Delmar and Olive streets in St Louis. Taking the name from the street his shop was on, Koester recorded a local jazz group the Windy City Six in 1953. Shortly thereafter, Koester searched out and found local talent in bluesmen such as Speckled Red, James Crutchfield, Big Joe Williams and J.D. Short.
After a period in St Louis, Koester moved to Chicago in August 1958. He bought out the record shop Seymour's Jazz Mart, and in renaming the storefront the Jazz Record Mart, Delmark Records found its new home in the basement of the record shop. By 1963, Koester had moved the shop to a location at 7 West Grand. During this period in Chicago, Delmark released albums by blues, jazz and bebop musicians, such as George Lewis, Barney Bigard, Jimmy Forrest, Bud Powell, Donald Byrd and Ira Sullivan.
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