To paraphrase the old stock brokerage commercial: "When Anthony Braxton plays, people listen". And they have been doing so for decades, through dozens of recordings spanning an evolution that is remarkable for it's independence and virtuosity. Braxton's first two albums, "Three Compositions of New Jazz" (1968, DMK #415) and "For Alto" (1969, DMK #420) were released on Delmark, and it's only fitting that the present rare quartet version of his self-described "Ghost Trance Music" be released more than thirty years later on the same label. Features Anthony Braxton on woodwinds, Kevin Uehlinger on piano/melodica, Keith Witty on bass, and Noam Schatz on percussion.

Redefining the collective concept in an ensemble, Two Cities is the follow up to the 2006 release Ready Everyday (DMK 571). The Fast Citizens have a rotating leader chair. This time Aram Shelton has taken the reins as main composer, focusing on orchestration and structural variety to present a stylistically diverse album that includes hard swing, lush ballads, high-energy free improvisation, modern composition and Sun-Ra-inspired grooves. Aram Shelton, alto saxophone, clarinet; Keefe Jackson, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Josh Berman, cornet; Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello; Anton Hatwich, bass; and Frank Rosaly, drums. Nine new compositions.

Chicago Hot (DMK 253), the first Delmark release from The Fat Babies, was chosen as a top ten album of 2012 by Howard Reich in the Chicago Tribune. 18th & Racine was recorded at the acoustically gifted Electrical Audio room B as the band swung through a smattering of hot 'n' sweet tunes that have been slaying crowds weekly at their Green Mill and Honky Tonk BBQ performances. The Fat Babies interpret classic styles of the '20s and '30s. Founded in 2010 by string bass player Beau Sample, it's members include Andy Schumm, cornet; John Otto, reeds; Dave Bock, trombone; Jake Sanders, banjo and guitar; Paul Asaro, piano; Alex Hall, drums.

BRIGHT LIGHT IN WINTER is the long-awaited third album by Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker. With his associates Chris Lopes (bass) and Chad Taylor (drums), this trio continues their examination of our post-modern musical universe via tuneful compositions by all three members, and an elastic, dynamic approach to improvisation and group interplay - rooted in our familiar musical traditions, but also searching for the new ones. Recorded and mixed by Bundy K. Brown. Also available: Jeff Parker, Like-Coping (DMK 543). "Jeff Parker is arguably the most exciting and thoughtful jazz guitarist of the past two decades, a masterful free improviser who's also fluent in everything from postbop to post rock." - Chicago Reader.

Chicago tenor sax legend Fred Anderson has been getting a lot of press recently because of the forthcoming closing of the current location of the internationally renowned Velvet Lounge. Features Hamid Drake on drums/percussion and Harrison Bankhead on bass. This third live Anderson recording follows "On the Run" (DMK #534) and "Back at the Velvet Lounge" (DMK #549).

Kahil El'Zabar, drums, earth drums, kalimba; Corey Wilkes, trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion; Ernest Dawkins, alto and tenor saxophone, percussion; Fareed Haque, electric and acoustic guitar. In a Down Beat review of their previous Delmark album, Freedom Jazz Dance (517) Paul de Barros wrote "The forms being advanced here-or at least merged in a creative, new way-are African-American syncopation (funk, jazz) and the vertically integrated multiple parts of African drum ensemble music. With folkish simplicity and beguilingly subdued dynamics, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble-drums, guitar and two horns-achieves an effect something like an ad hoc percussion band walking the second line, with a little James Brown thrown in."

This 1997 release features Billy Harper, Carter Jefferson, Joe Ford, Dee Alexader, Ron Bridgewater and others. A lyrical bop player and cutting-edge free jazz musician, Malachi liked to call his music Freebop; a sound that simultaneously includes blues, straight ahead jazz, the funky grit of soul jazz, African roots and the dazzling extroverted technique of the modern era. 47th Street (the album) is Thompson's musical tribute to a vibrant period of black Chicago history, a period of economic vitality and cultural fluidity that made 47th Street (the actual street) the mainstream of black Chicago. (Previously deleted:4/1/11. Original release date:2/10/98)

Tribute is now available on LP in a limited edition of 1,000 with numbered jackets. Newly recorded blues celebration of Delmark's 65th Anniversary Tribute features Delmark's current roster of artists paying tribute to founder Bob Koester and artists that recorded for the label in the 1960s and 70s. Jimmy Johnson & Dave Specter pay tribute to Magic Sam. Omar Coleman pays tribute to Junior Wells. Lil' Ed pays tribute to J.B. Hutto. Corey Dennison pays tribute to Sleepy John Estes, Lurrie Bell & The Bell Dynasty pay tribute to their dad Carey Bell. Linsey Alexander and Billy Flynn pay tribute to Jimmy Dawkins. And more!

This is the OSD's third Delmark outing - on the first, they supported Clancy Hays, and on the second, they joined Franz Jackson. The OSD are generally classified as a West Coast traditional revival jazz band, playing in a style whose origins date back to the 1920s. But their music is a synthesis of styles transcending the revivalist category, because you'll hear echoes of Bix, Red Nichols, as well as the old New Orleanians. This album was recorded in 1966 & contains 14 songs, including 5 bonus tracks.

In a review of Jason Stein's debut album, The Story This Time (Delmark 2013), JazzTimes said "This record kills. The double-horn front line allows for torrid, bop-rooted synchronicity and numerous moments of unfettered exploration." Stein understands the bass clarinet's history and seeks to extend it's comfort zone, and he's not prone to move into the stratosphere, staying in the natural range on his instrument, but picking up the pace manually, the overland route, through force of will. Add to a couple tracks the contrabass clarinet of Keefe Jackson, which ratchets the sound down into the substrata a few notches, and the uncanny play between the anchor and the waves is even more pronounced.

The Heat is turned up again for another chapter in the 25-year history of Pierre Lacocque's Mississippi Heat. The Living Blues review of their previous album said "Warning Shot (DMK 839) showcases bandleader and principal songwriter Lacocque's eloquent harp playing, supported by a cast of heavy hitters that delivers the trademark big band sound and one of the hottest, tightest bands in Chicago today, and the original songs on this album are pure fun and are worthy additions to the great history of Chicago blues." Cab Driving Man features 15 new songs with Inetta Visor and Michael Dotson as lead vocalists again. The songs are a wonderful blend of Mississippi, Chicago, boogie, swing and south of the border.

DELMARK'S 70th ANNIVERSARY BLUES ANTHOLOGY Featuring 10 of the finest tracks from the Delmark blues music vaults. Seventy years on, Delmark is the oldest independent jazz and blues record label in the world, boasting a catalog bulging with over twelve thousand recordings by a virtual who's who of jazz and blues.  Although Bob Koester retired in 2018, under the leadership of President/CEO, Julia A. Miller and Artistic Director Elbio Barilari, Delmark has released over 30 thirty albums in five years, has made digitally available over twelve thousand songs and continues it's mission.

Dave Specter'S 30 YEAR MUSICAL JOURNEY ON DELMARK showcases the guitarist, songwriter and vocalist surrounded by a stellar lineup of special guests including: OTIS CLAY, JIMMY JOHNSON, RONNIE EARL, LURRIE BELL, BILLY BRANCH, WILLIE KENT, JORMA KAUKONEN, JACK McDUFF, LYNWOOD SLIM, SHARON LEWIS, JESSE FORTUNE, BARKIN' BILL SMITH, STEVE FREUND, FLOYD McDANIEL, TAD ROBINSON, LENNY LYNN and more! Specter's career has been intertwined with the deepest roots of Chicago blues and Delmark's rich musical history. This double CD release constitutes a definitive testimony to one of today's most tasteful and versatile blues artists featuring Specter in a wide variety of styles, all played with six string soul., ALL TRACKS REMASTERED AT DELMARK'S RIVERSIDE STUDIO BY JULIA A. MILLER. INCLUDES GATEFOLD JACKET WITH EXTENSIVE DISCOGRAPHY, LINER NOTES BY HISTORIAN DICK SHURMAN, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD CARD OF THE COMPLETE DOUBLE CD EDITION FEATURING 11 MORE TRACKS.

Mike Wheeler Band - CD - "TURN UP" - Delmark Records - Mike Wheeler: "Mike Wheeler has been a fixture on the Chicago blues scene for almost 30 years and his eloquent Delmark debut. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look up on the stage. It's SuperMike, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel strings with his bare hands, and who, disguised in Chicago sports caps as mild-mannered average guy, fights a never-ending battle for blues, soul and the true funktified way. In 2012 Delmark released Self Made Man. In his Living Blues magazine review David Whiteis wrote "Wheeler's music virtually explodes with affirmation... Throughout, Wheeler's solos resonate with the joy of exploration and discovery, as well as with emotional power." This new album features 12 new originals including "You Won't Do Right", "Brand New Cadillac" and the burning title track., TURN UP !!

Shaping their musical heritage together for 15 years, saxophonist Keefe Jackson and vibist Jason Adasiewicz have been vital in defining and refining "The Chicago Sound". Their relationship with Delmark has spanned over a decade; combined they have 20 albums on the label. On Rows And Rows, six of the nine original compositions were composed specifically for the session, while the remaining three are older tunes re-imagined for duo. The atmosphere of a jazz duet can paint one of the most personal and intimate musical conversations. This one brings the listener into their world, creating a social environment that you may want to tap your foot to, or even go a little further.

Now in his 90s, this enduring Chicago blues great entered the studio to create his first album in a decade-and it's on Delmark, for whom he first recorded 40 years ago! His Delmark homecoming blends his originals with takes on some classics: "I Need You So Bad," "My Ring," "Lead Me On," "Love Me or Leave Me," "Rattlesnake" and more blues with that trademark Jimmy Johnson R&B flavor. Delmark.

The collaborative trio of Ben Goldberg (clarinet, contra alto clarinet), Geof Bradfield (soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet) and Dana Hall (percussion) explores new directions on General Semantics. Their Delmark Records debut features original music by the trio as well as unique interpretations of Duke Ellington, Cecil Taylor, and Hermeto Pascoal. The unusual instrumentation-especially the lack of a bassist- enables the musicians to transcend traditional instrument roles of accompaniment, improvisation, and interaction and create music that embraces form and harmony alongside freedom and spontaneous improvisation.

Guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque and KAIA String Quartet, a rising star among American chamber ensembles, shine together in pieces by Latin American masters, from Astor Piazzolla to Eduardo Angulo and to Leo Brouwer, from Afro-Cuban to tango, from the Caribbean and Mexico to the R¡o de la Plata. This album gives a new flavor to jazz, Latino and chamber music. Fareed Haque's formidable experience in those fields in combination with Kaia's luxurious sound and the quartet's devotion to Latin American music blossom together in one of the unmistakable albums of the year. Enjoy 79 minutes of music without boundaries.

Paquito D'Rivera is both as free and as embedded as can be with Volcano Radar, the explosive, expansive, radiant electro-acoustic ensemble, co-led by multi-instrumentalist Elbio Barilari and guitarist/synthesist Julia A. Miller. Keyboardist Darwin Noguera, bassist Rollo Radford and drummer Ernie Adams collaborate in the creation of vivid and mysteriously improvised soundscapes, says jazz critic Howard Mandel. Volcano Radar's soundscapes have been described as: noise-funk, post-jazz, avant-rock, experimental improvisation, jazz-electronica and neo-psychedelia. On their Delmark debut Volcano Radar and Paquito D'Rivera, as you never heard him before, surf together through uncharted waters.

This is music for the time after. After so many trends and the aftermath of 20th century's aesthetic propositions this is music that reflects into itself and contemplates itself on a historical mirror without recurring to the alibi of the "tribute". This is music that, as poet Ezra Pound said, assumes "the tradition is a beauty we preserve and not a set of fetters to bind us. Some may say Javier Red picks up where Chicago pioneer Lennie Tristano had left his experiences of organized freedom. And it wouldn't be wrong. This is cool and smart music, shamelessly intellectual. It is both highly conceptual and very focused on vindicating the craft, the careful embroidering of the musical tapestry. Not unlike Tristano's, Javier's music is extraordinarily demanding on the musicians because of the level of skills expected from them but also because of the deep commitment that it is required to perform it. Knowing your changes, patterns and scales is not enough to play this music in which the form is reinvented for each composition and where shifting time signatures and bi-tonal or poly-tonal passages bring the complexity of Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, and the Mexican genius Silvestre Revueltas right into the 21st century jazz alchemy.