10 of the 13 tracks were recorded live in the Chicago area last year. The John Burnett Orchestra specializes in all forties style big band swing and current big band jazz charts. John hails from England and attended the Royal Academy of Music. He is currently morning host of an exciting jazz radio show on WDCB, Public Radio from the College of DuPage, IL. "In the Mood", One O'Clock Jump", "In a Mellow Tone" and ten more songs. With guest artist Buddy DeFranco. Also available West of State Street/East of Harlem (DMK 584).In a review of Burnett's previous Delmark CD Matthew Allen wrote: "Performed with the animated charm and confidence of past iconic jazz orchestras and yet they all have a new shine on them."

Ragtime piano master is featured here on 26 tracks from the early 1960s, inc. 8 never before released cuts - the performances are culled from 2 informal parties, one of which was hosted by ragophile Trebor Tichenor, who wrote the descriptive notes.

Jazz clarinetist Garvin Bushell's 1988 autobiography is rightly titled "Jazz from the Beginning". Bushell recorded with great pianists - James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Jelly Roll Morton and with important swing orchestras, such as those led by Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway and Chick Webb. In mid-century Bushell recorded with many of the period's greatest jazz names, including John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Gil Evans, and King Curtis. This 1982 session features Garvin Bushell, clarinet, bassoon; Richard Hadlock, soprano sax; Ray Skjelbred, piano; Stu Wilson, bass; John Markham, drums; Leon Oakley, cornet; Barbara Lashley, vocals on 3 songs.

Sir Charles is best known for his historic 1945-47 Apollo recordings with Charlie Parker & Dexter Gordon. A mainstay on New York's dynamic 52nd Street scene in the '40s & '50s, Thompson recorded for Columbia, Vanguard & as a sideman with Coleman Hawkins & Illinois Jacquet. Sir Charles' album "Robbins' Nest - Live at the Jazz Showcase" was applauded by critics for his ability to remain relevant to today, so Delmark went back & got more of this good stuff. Features Eric Schneider on tenor/alto sax & clarinet.

SAY WHAT

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.

Ari carries on the Chicago tenor sax and the AACM traditions. He melds them into his own voice and no matter how far out he takes the music, it still remains accessible and enjoyable.

The music of Keefe Jackson's all-reed group Likely So is both a new direction and a continuation of his abiding mission: combining composition and improvisation with an emphasis on the interaction of the individual musicians. On a Round Goal, this leads to an exploration of sound-areas including the textural, the melodic, and the instinctual. Mars Williams, Waclaw Zimpel, Jackson, Marc Stucki, Dave Rempis, Peter A. Schmid, and Thomas K.J. Mejer play the entire range of saxophones (from sopranino to contrabass) and clarinets. This album is a live set recorded at the Jazzwerkstatt Festival in Berne, Switzerland.

The Memphis Nighthawks got together in Champaign-Urbana, IL, were members of the U. of I. Jazz Band and took their name from a 1932 recording though neither group came from Memphis Ron DeWar (soprano sax, clarinet, C Melody sax) has since worked with pianist Judy Roberts. Co-founder Steve Jensen (trumpet) also co-founded the Jazz Members Big Band, Trombonist Joel Helleny moved to New York and did the trombone solos on the soundtrack of Cotton Club, was only 20 when these sides were cut in the late 70's. The rhythm section includes bass saxist Dave Feinman & Mike Miller (banjo, guitar). Joe Klee in the Mississippi Rag said "From the opening track this band moves like a house afire"!

On CD for the first time. Recorded on December 30, 1964 at Preservation Hall, New Orleans this album is unique because at the time there were few sessions being done by traditional jazz units other than six or seven piece bands. And it found favor with a wide range of fans, combining elements of both the West Coast and New Orleans styles. It's been 45 years since pianist Bob Greene and banjoist Steve Larner strutted down St. Peter Street from Preservation Hall to the Red Garter to meet cornetist Ernie Carson and tubaist Hal Johnson. But the great music lives on with the addition of 4 previously unissued songs, 14 songs in all.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(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.

Andy Brown's previous album, Soloist (DMK 5019), received outstanding reviews in JazzTimes, Jazziz, Vintage Guitar and in Down Beat where Scott Yanow described Andy as "a fixture on the Chicago jazz scene since 2003" superior mainstream guitarist." Direct Call features a rarity in jazz today - a working band. Several years of performing weekly at Andy's Jazz Club has given this quartet a cohesive and tight-knit sound that can only be gained through countless gigs together. With pianist Jeremy Kahn, bassist Joe Policastro and drummer Phil Gratteau, the album features an eclectic mix of standards, Brazilian music and jazz compositions.

Jazz trumpeter Brad Goode is a former Chicagoan who now resides in Colorado. This album contains 12 songs, including four new compositions.

Mikrokolektyw Kuba Suchar and Arthur Majewski continue to explore a vast terrain of post jazz soundscapes. These shifting limitless ideas, merging electronic sounds with complex melody and rhythm, push them to the forefront of contemporary jazz. As with their critically acclaimed debut Revisit and it's follow-up live DVD Dew Point, Absent Minded is a stark and brilliant reminder that jazz is a living language, constantly expanding into new horizons. Mikrokolektyw reveal a facet of jazz whose sonic palette is both diverse and challenging yet astoundingly beautiful. A boundary erasing excursion into the range of emotions that is possible when we speak in multiple tongues.

Polish duo Mikrokolektyw explore regions of warped impressionist Don Cherryesque melodies like cartographers from some distant future. Their style is an outline of unexplored electronic hieroglyphs, an almost forgotten language shaped by moog, drums and trumpet. With this language they illustrate a map of vast sonic territories. Drummer Kuba Suchar and trumpeter Arthur Majewski have collaborated with dozens of Chicago jazz greats as touring members of Rob Mazurek's ESO and Sao Paolo Underground groups. Their electronic driven jazz stands out for it's downtown sound, a new freedom of innovation burning with an idiosyncratic sense of expression.

After five Delmark albums with his New Horizons Ensemble and three as co-leader of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, saxophonist, composer, arranger Ernest Dawkins leads this brand new, specially chosen group for a program of straight ahead jazz featuring African, Afro-Latin and African-American percussion. The personnel is Ernest Dawkins, alto, tenor saxophone; Corey Wilkes, trumpet; Willerm Delisfort, piano; Junius Paul, bass; Isaiah Spencer, drums; Ruben Alvarez, congas, bongos, chimes, shaker; Greg Carmouche, Greg Penn, congas; and on the intimate ballad rendition of "God Bless The Child" Ben Paterson on Hammond B3 organ.

Shaping their musical heritage together for 15 years, saxophonist Keefe Jackson and vibes player 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.

LULLABY IN RHYTHM

KEITH INGHAM & THE NEW YORK 9 3