recent spins

older playlists »

Bob Koester Turns 80, Delmark’s 60th Anniversary

10/5/12 11:21 AM | Art Schuna

    Bob Koester celebrates his 80th birthday this month and his record label, Delmark is celebrating its 60th year in the business.  Bob also owns the Jazz Record Mart pictured here.  Bob became interested in blues and jazz as a collector of 78 rpm records.  He started a record store called Delmar Records named for the street it was located on, Delmar Avenue in St. Louis.  Bob first recorded a trad jazz band and then went on to seek out blues performers living in the St. Louis area including Speckled Red, Big Joe  Williams, JD Short and James Crutchfield.  The label had to change its name from Delmar to Delmark due to copyright issues.  Bob moved to Chicago and purchased Seymour’s Jazz Record Mart.   I first visited Jazz Record Mart in the 1970s when it was located at West Grand Ave, not far from ‘The Magnificent Mile” on Michigan Avenue.  It’s moved a few times since then.  Currently located at 27 E. Illinois St, not far from that Grand Avenue location.   The store has always carried an amazing inventory of  jazz and blues recordings, including both new and used items as well as label overstock and discontinued items. I can usually spend hours going through the bins and dropped a lot of money there over the years.  The upside is I often find things I couldn’t find anywhere else.   Big Joe Williams used to live in the basement at the Grand Avenue location when he was in Chicago.  His 9 string guitar was on display in a showcase at the store at one time.  Bob says Delmark has been a labor of love with the record store serving as a cash cow to provide money to produce new records.  Delmark has continued to turn out an amazing catalog of blues recordings by performers including Big Joe Williams,  Sleepy John Estes, Junior Wells, Magic Sam, Luther Allison and Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins to name just a few.  Delmark is the longest running independent blues and jazz label in the country.  This interview was  recorded around the time of Bob’s 70th birthday and Delmark’s 50th anniversary as a record label.  Click on the title to go to the interview.

09/29/12 10:50 AM | Art Schuna

I have been co-hosting Two For The Blues since January 1997.  I initially did the show with Bonnie Kalmbach who originated the show in January 1976.  After she retired from the airwaves, Dave Leucinger took over the co-hosting duties. Growing up in Northern Wisconsin,  I was first introduced to the blues on AM radio in the 1950s when Slim Harpo and Jimmy Reed crossed over to the pop record charts.  In the 1960s, British Invasion bands were playing blues tunes I liked but it took me years before I heard the original versions.  I remember the first time I heard Howlin’ Wolf.   I didn’t like it.  It was just too raw compared to  versions done by rock bands. In the 1970s I tired of much of the music played on commercial radio.  I began looking for the origins of rock & roll and in the process rediscovered the blues.  It was music that spoke to me.   Soon it became a passion and I’ve never looked back.  I read about and listen to blues music from the entire recording history of this music which now spans 10 decades.   My show is an extension of my exploration of the blues which continues to this day. Over the years I’ve had opportunities to interview many of the blues greats and some of these interviews may be found at [WEB LINK HERE].   I play music from all eras of the blues and all styles.   I have a special love of the 1940s and 1950s jump blues styles that so heavily influenced what came to be called rock and roll and that music usually opens each of my shows.  I hope at least a few of my listeners will discover music that means as much to them as it does to me.