In May 2018 Delmark Records LLC purchased Delmark. Julia A. Miller became the CEO & President of the label and Elbio Barilari its artistic Director.
Delmark Records is the oldest continuously operating jazz and blues independent record label in the United States. It was founded by Robert G. Koester in St. Louis, Missouri in 1953, originally under the name “Delmar.” In 1958, Koester and the label relocated to Chicago with the label’s current name: Delmark.
Throughout its history, Delmark has released records by historical jazz artists such as Sun Ra, Sonny Stitt, Jimmy Forrest, Wynton Kelly, Curtis Fuller, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Fred Anderson, Von & George Freeman, Ernest Dawkins, Ari Brown, Ken Vandermark, Jason Stein, Nicole Mitchell, Rob Mazurek, Paul Giallorenzo, Geof Bradfield, Paquito d’Rivera, Fareed Haque, Goran Ivanovic, Dee Alexander, The Metropolitan Jazz Octet, The Fat Babies, The Soul Message Band, Bakerzmillion, Javier Red’s Imagery Converter, and so many more.
Delmark’s stellar blues catalogue includes, among others: Junior Wells, Little Walter, T-bone Walker, Big Joe Williams, J. B. Hutto, Robert Nighthawk, Luther Allison, Magic Sam, Jimmy Dawkins, Jimmy Johnson, Sleepy John Estes, Arthur Crudup, Otis Rush, Roosevelt Sykes, Carey & Lurrie Bell, Eddie C. Campbell, Big Time Sarah, Eddie Clearwater, Dave Specter, Steve Freund, Linsey Alexander, Tail Dragger, Studebaker John, Billy Flynn, Jimmy Burns, Mike Wheeler, Johnny Burgin, Johnny Iguana, Demetria Taylor, Deitra Farr, Shirley Johnson, Breezy Rodio, Willie Buck, Ken Saydak, Rockwell Avenue Blues Band, Billy Branch, Johnny Burgin, and so many more.
The label also has released albums by musicians from Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. The first record was Roscoe Mitchell’s Sound (1966) which received a five-star review in Downbeat. This was followed by a string of releases on Delmark that highlighted the new music being played in Chicago by artists associated with the AACM including Muhal Richard Abrams, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, and Anthony Braxton. Additionally, Delmark released two of the earliest Sun Ra albums, Sun Song and Sound of Joy, in 1967 and 1968 respectively.
This year marks Delmark’s 70th Anniversary!
The label has produced more than 40 New Releases since 2018 on mulitple formats – digital single, digital album, official video, lyric video, CD, 2CD, LP, 2LP, reel-to-reel
We’ve also put back in dozens of catalog releases on CD & LP, and made 12,000+ tracks available digitally
New releases include:
- One Trad Jazz – (The Fat Babies – Uptown)
- One Special Edition Jazz re-release (Sound – Roscoe Mitchell)
- 25 Blues (singles & albums)
- 11 Jazz (singles & albums)
- 2 classical (Eduardo Fernandez, David Schrader)
- Four reel-to-reel releases – 2 each, blues & jazz
- We released three compilations –
- 65th Anniversary Blues Tribute (CD/LP)
- 70th Blues Anthology (CD/LP)
- 70th Jazz Anthology (Digital only, coming this fall)
- 70th ANNIVERSARY EVENTS:
- Schaumburg Arts Center
- 70th Tribute – Chicago Blues Fest
- WoodStock Folk Fest – Woody Award
- Rockwell Blues & Jazz Stroll
- Chicago RibFest
- Delmark 70th/All Stars at Evanston SPACE
- October Delmark Week at Legends
- Delmark All-Stars at Hey Nonny!
- several Delmark All Stars shows at various Chicago Parks
- countless radio shows, podcasts, print ads/interviews, etc
- Delmark All Stars at Thalia Hall
- We have lots of 70th Anniversary Merch! (shirts, hoodies, beanies, stickers)
Additionally Delmark re-released Roscoe Mitchell’s historical “Sound” album, going back to the original mixes by Stu Black.
- Delmark started a product line or reel to reel master copies of some the work of some iconic artists such as Junior Wells & Jimmy Forrest. Sun Ra and Magic Sam tapes are also available. A new reel to reel release by Johnny Iguana is coming in 2024.
- WELCOME! to explore our website and to order Delmark CDs, LPs, DVD’s as well titles from our subsidiary labels Sackville, Jump, Triangle Jazz and Boxholder directly from us or download them from your favorite providers.