A powerful blend of groove jazz, world music, electronica and Punjabi folk, Trance Hypothesis is Fareed Haque's debut as a leader for Delmark. Driven by Haque's incisive and funky bebop guitar playing the album also features a diverse cast of world musicians including Essam Rafea, oud; Indrajit Banerjee, sitar; Matthew Tembo, kalimba; young tabla virtuoso Shiva Ghoshal and jazz musicians Tony Monaco, Hammond B3 organ and Willerm Delisfort, piano. Haque originals include "Hymn of The Ancient One", "Poonjob in The Punjab", "Chitlins & Chutney" and more. Also available: Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Hot 'N' Heavy (DMK 574, DVD DMK 1574) with Fareed Haque and Edward Petersen, Upward Spiral (DMK 445) with Fareed Haque.

New York guitarist Howard Alden and Chicago guitarist Andy Brown co-lead a swinging two-guitar quartet session. Playing a mix of standards, Brazilian tunes, and songs by fellow jazz guitarists, this recording documents a fifteen-year relationship between the two musicians.

One of the greatest living Chicago blues guitarists Lurrie Bell's last two CDs have been about stretching him (successfully) to showcase the breadth as well as the magnitude of his art. However for this project he just wanted to get back to the solid foundation of Chicago-styled traditional guitar blues done with his rare blend of reverence involvement and individuality and framed largely by his working band. Lurrie Bell vocals guitar: Roosevelt Purifoy piano organ; Melvin Smith bass Willie the Touch Hayes drums; and on six songs Matthew Skoller harmonica. Produced by Dick Shurman.

Mike Wheeler has been playing the blues for almost 30 years and has played with Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Shemekia Copeland, Jimmy Johnson, Son Seals, Willie Kent and a who's who of today's Chicago Blues!!. Mike is an extraordinary blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He wrote most of the material Self Made Man including the title track where he sings "I'm a self made man and I made myself have the blues". Mike is accompanied by his regular group including Brian James, keyboards; Larry Williams, bass; Cleo Cole, drums and special guest Omar Coleman, harmonica on three songs. Others songs include "Get Your Mind Right", "Movin' Forward", "I Don't like It Like That", "Here I Am".

We like our blues with a dose of funk, soul and all other kind of stuff, says Omar Coleman. Eventually these supposedly separate genres run into each other especially with the new generation of blues artists taking over. Even though it was only available for the second half of the year Omar's Delmark debut Born & Raised was #15 on Living Blues magazine's top radio albums of the year. In the LB review of the album Roger Gatch said "The album bears the mark of an artist who is appropriately confident in his abilities as a singer, harmonica player and songwriter and who is steeped in the classic blues sounds of his home city yet unafraid to take them in a more contemporary direction."

The second installment of Art Hodes' recordings for the Euphonic label this contains another hour of inspired piano solos from the legend who's been described as a blues drenched jazz pianist. Hodes (1904-93) was active in the '20s so this is music played by a guy who was there when Bessie Smith was alive and recording. On this 1976 session he pays tribute to the great blues vocalist Bessie Smith. Contains the 12 songs from the original LP plus unissued tracks including St. Louis Blues After You've Gone Cakewalkin' Babies from Home & Pallet on the Floor.

Chicago jazz pianist Jim Holman brings together an exciting crew for Blue Skies, his second Delmark CD. Multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, who was there in bebop's heyday and played with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Art Blakey and others continues to set the standard of greatness. Each of his phrases is an epiphany. Here Ira plays trumpet and tenor saxophone. Drummer Roger Humphries embodies the spirit of jazz: sophisticated yet uninhibited. He is best known for playing drums on Horace Silver's Song for My Father but also played with many greats including Stanley Turrentine and Ray Charles. Nick Schneider, Dennis Carroll, (bass) and George Fludas (drums) each contribute.

The release of this CD should propel St. Louis' legendary trumpet player Dewey Jackson from a footnote to his rightful place in jazz history. Jackson was born in St. Louis, June 21, 1900 (before Louis Armstrong). He played a year with rag timer George Reynold's Keystone Band before joining Charlie Creath and alternated between Creath, Fate Marable and his own groups before briefly joining the first Cotton Club band in New York. Jackson recorded for Vocallion in 1926, with Creath for Okeh in '27 and with bassist Singleton Palmer. He occasionally gigged through the '50s and '60s and passed away in March of 1966. This album triples his discography and features Don Ewell, piano; Frank Chace, clarinet; Sid Dawson, trombone; and Booker T. Washington, drums.

Sleepy John Estes was one of the most individual of all recorded blues singers. He sang with phrasing that fairly dripped with expressiveness in a high crying tone that seemed often like he was speaking to the listener. The songs he wrote were well suited to this treatment, dealing frequently with his and his neighbors' lives. - Gerald Brennan. This session is from July 19, 1974. None of these performances have ever been issued before. Estes, vocals, guitar; Hammie Nixon, vocals, harmonica, kazoo.

Founded in 1953 by Bob Koester, Delmark Records continues to record jazz and blues under his leadership. This special celebratory CD package features previously unissued performances by blues legends and new songs from Delmark's current line-up of exciting talent. Tracks include an unissued Junior Wells song from the South Side Blues Jam session featuring Otis Spann; Magic Sam from a 1968 live performance, a sneak preview of the full CD slated for November; an alternate take from the Little Walter Trio featuring Muddy Waters which has never been on CD; Toronzo Cannon, Studebaker John, Linsey Alexander, Quintus McCormick, Lurrie Bell, Eddie C. Campbell and much more.

This is the first album for Young on an established American label, which is surprising since she is one of the most creative blues singers in Chicago; born in West Point, MS & raised in Chicago, where she grew up singing gospel - after years in the R&B "chittlin circuit," she switched to blues & has shared the stage with B.B. & Albert King; here, she's joined by guest guitarist James Wheeler.

(CD + DVD) the Space Between is a multi-faceted sound/visual orchestration based on multiplying forces and the space between these forces. It pursues the idea of the Indra's Net, a continuous reflection of, but always changing reality of, our universe and what is not seen or heard. Featuring the dynamic flute of Nicole Mitchell, the Wellsian voice of Damon Locks, and stellar contributions from the other members of the Ensemble, along with Marianne M. Kim's multi-layered visual poem, the Space Between represents a step into the direction of sound as vision / vision as sound. Contains one CD and DVD (in PCM stereo, DTS and Dolby 5.1). Also contains Illumination Drone #17, Mazurek's silent video. NTSC all region, 47 minutes.

Jazz drummer Frank Rosaly's debut album as leader. Cicada Music is an extension of drummer Rosaly's original soundtrack work from the documentary Scrappers, which follows the life of two Chicago recyclers scouring the alleys for scrap metal. Rosaly's music is a meditation on that struggle, the vast complexity of the urban environment and the beauty of human perseverance. Using some of the leading voices in Chicago's free music scene, these 10 tracks feature James Falzone, clarinet; Jason Stein, bass clarinetist; Keefe Jackson, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, contra-bass clarinet: Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Jason Roebke, bass; and Frank Rosaly, drums, electronics.

Robert Nighthawk recorded for United on it's first day of sessions and two of United's first five releases were by "Robert Nighthawk and his Nighthawks Band". He had a national hit in late '49 on Aristocrat and perhaps United had envisioned Nighthawk as it's blues-singing slide guitar rival to Chess' Muddy Waters. Sales didn't pan out but to many he was the ultimate slide guitarist of the amplified blues era, one who influenced the likes of Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Earl Hooker. B.B. King cited Nighthawk as one of his "Ten Favorite Guitarists" in "Guitar Player" magazine. Today, more than 30 years after his death, Nighthawk is ranked among the greats in blues history.

Eddie C. Campbell brings his unmistakably individual, engaging and memorable verve and variety and his command of the Chicago blues tradition to "Tear This World Up", his most fully realized chapter in a highly regarded discography which has generated covers by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Lee Atwater and a Christmas staple. Eddie has long been a master of classic Chicago blues, but always his own man, turning out venues worldwide with funk and rock & roll as well as blues, all with his rich, wide-ranging vocals, the trademark reverb drenched sound of his vintage metallic purple Fender Jazzmaster guitar and creative song writing.