Sharon Lewis made her Delmark debut in 2007 as a special guest vocalist with Dave Specter on Live in Chicago (CD DMK 794, DVD DMK 1794). Born in Fort Worth, Texas Sharon's earliest musical experience was as a member of a gospel choir. She moved to Chicago permanently in 1975 and became active on the Chicago blues scene in the early 90s. In 2005 Sharon formed her own band, Texas Fire. "... it's Sharon Lewis who provides the disc's (Live in Chicago) most exciting moments. Her powerful pipes inject a strong gospel vibe into her originals "In Too Deep" and the head-turning ballad "Angel". - Blues Revue.

Blues guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader Dave Weld got his start on Chicago's west side in the late 70's. At the 1815 Club on Roosevelt Road, Dave was in the house band with Chico Chism, Shorty Gilbert, Hubert Sumlin, Detroit Junior, and Eddie Shaw. Dave played there with Otis Rush, Guitar Junior, Tail Dragger, Little Arthur, Johnny Littlejohn and more. Weld was under the tutelage of Grammy winning slide guitarist JB Hutto. JB introduced Dave to his nephew, Lil Ed. They started the band "Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials" and played every joint in the West side for ten years. Burnin' Love is Weld's Delmark debut and it features Lil Ed on guitar and the legendary Abb Locke on saxophone.

PLAYS VICTOR YOUNG

This CD and DVD features Coleman Hawkins, Sun Ra, George Lewis, Curtis Fuller, Deep Blue Organ Trio, Francine Griffin, Nicole Mitchell, Ari Brown, Fred Anderson, Chicago Underground Trio, and many more.

Here are some of the rarest hot piano solos ever made. These performances were originally recorded in Chicago during the mid to late 1920s by the Capitol Music Roll Company and issued as nickelodeon piano rolls. In 2007 Delmark issued Jimmy Blythe, Messin' Around Blues (DMK 792) from the same set of rolls. With the help of digital technology these rolls will sound more full and rich than ever before. This CD feature rolls transcribed by Clarence Johnson, another of the finest blues players of the 20s. The piano roll performances presented here provide a clearer record than do their 78s because these solos were recorded using modern recording techniques from a "live" player piano.

Chicago tenor saxophone legend and proprietor of the longest standing and most adventurous avant garde jazz club in Chicago, Fred Anderson celebrated his 80th birthday this past March and Delmark was there to capture it. All three of Fred's earlier Delmark albums were live at the Velvet but the excitement level here is unmatched as the show was sold out weeks in advance. Fred is joined by Kidd Jordan - tenor saxophone, Jeff Parker - guitar, Harrison Bankhead - bass, Chad Taylor - drums. Also available: On the Run (DMK 534), Back at the Velvet Lounge (DMK 549), Timeless (DMK 568, DVD 1568).

Though this is Pierre Lacocque's band, and he is the principal songwriter and stage front with his harmonica, there is an ensemble feel to all of Mississippi Heat albums. When you listen to this superb CD, you're not just hearing a band. You're hearing a family, one with a deep love, understanding, and respect for each other. That special guest Sax Gordon is so seamlessly incorporated into their signature sound speaks volumes. Fourteen of the sixteen songs here are new originals. From straight-ahead Chicago blues, boogie and swing to Latin beat, Caribbean and funk Warning Shot is a remarkable musical achievement.

Willie Buck has been leading his own bands for over 40 years. He's been on the scene since his arrival in Chicago as a teenager in the midst of the heyday of Chicago blues in 1953. He put out his only album in the early 80s which became a collector's item over the years and was re-issued in 2010 as The Life I Love (Delmark 805). At that time it was decided Willie would create a new album for Delmark but it wasn't until Rockin' Johnny stepped forward that the project got off the ground. Cell Phone Man features 16 songs with a heavy dose of Muddy Waters Chicago Blues. Johnny's Band is Rick Kreher, Barrelhouse Chuck, John Sefner, Steve Bass and special guest Bharath Rajakumar.

In a review of Weld's first Delmark CD, Living Blues magazine said: "Burnin' Love is a raucous monster, Weld performs wonderfully wild guitar their sweet vocal harmonies are as animated as Weld's wicked and rockin' slide guitar."(Monica's) "Talk Dirty" is equally suited for a sultry blues diva here Myhre displays her burly pipes." The songwriting team of Weld/Myhre has reached new heights with the sublime title track, the self-described "Sweet Rockin' Soul" and the crossover "Sweet Love (Dulce Amor)". With special guests Bobby Rush adding harp on 2 songs, Greg Guy (son of Buddy Guy) on guitar on one and Sax Gordon on tenor and baritone sax.

As this new album A Dance and a Hop makes clear, jazz cornet player Josh Berman's music has grown by leaps and bounds (or hops). It's only his third as leader-the first two, also on Delmark, were Old Idea (2009) and There Now (2012). Berman is accompanied by label mates Jason Roebke, bass and Frank Rosaly, drums. Berman points out that the eleven original tunes "are directly related to content that I play on cornet; I rarely write without it. I am very interested in the way Jason plays the bass and Frank plays the drums, and how the tunes live without space being filled by reeds, vibraphone, other voices. I think I wanted to hear what 'my idea' sounds like without everything else."

For a decade jazz cornet player Josh Berman has been a mainstay of the post-Vandermark generation of Chicago improvisers, a wide circle of ambitious musicians who meet up in varied ad hoc or fixed settings: A circle including all the players in Josh's group Old Idea. He's already recorded some as part of a quartet on Chicago-Luzern Exchange alongside tenor saxophonist Keefe Jackson, with Jackson's big and small bands Project Project and Fast Citizens, with Jason Adasiewicz's quintet Rolldown and Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra. Old Idea is Josh's debut CD as leader. With Keefe Jackson - tenor sax; Jason Adasiewicz - vibes; Anton Hatwich - bass; Nori Tanaka - drums.

MESSAGE IN BLUE

Perhaps best known as a blues label Delmark Records actually has issued more jazz albums than blues and was the first label to record Chicago's AACM jazz collective. Founded in 1953 by Bob Koester, Delmark Records continues to record jazz and blues under Koester's leadership including today's cutting edge jazz scene in Chicago. Delmark 60th Anniversary: Jazz features Red Holloway, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis from masters originally recorded for the Apollo label but never issued on CD, Sonny Stitt, Nicole Mitchell, Corey Wilkes, Ernest Dawkins, Kahil El'Zabar, a sneak preview of the forthcoming new album from The Fat Babies, Ira Sullivan with the Jim Holman Trio, Keefe Jackson, Josh Berman and more.

The debut release by Chicago's newest hot jazz group, The Fat Babies. The band was started two years ago by string bassist and band leader, Beau Sample, and has held down a Sunday residency at Chicago's Honky Tonk BBQ ever since. The Fat Babies consists of Sample, bass; Andy Schumm, cornet; John Otto, clarinet/saxophone; Dave Bock, trombone; Paul Asaro, piano; Jake Sanders, tenor banjo; and Alex Hall, drums. Chicago Hot is a collection of 20s and 30s tunes mostly from Chicago's south side. The band takes on recordings by King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Erskine Tate, Freddie Keppard, Jimmy Noone, Bix Beiderbecke which are infectiously danceable and endlessly engaging.

Queen Sylvia Embry is best known as the bass-playing vocalist in Lefty Dizz and the Shock Treatment during the late 70s. The group was immensely popular and played some of the best (and wildest) blues music in Chicago. It seemed as if Sylvia was poised to break out as Chicago's leading blues woman as she started to front her own band and recording for three different labels in just a few years. They were married for a time but by the time they recorded this album they had divorced. Recorded on January 19, 1979 by the tiny Razor label the original album, known as After Work, is long out-of-print. This new CD contains previously unissued material.