Delmark Records is more than an institution in the jazz and blues world. Founder and owner
Bob Koester celebrated 55 years by issuing two collections of seminal blues and jazz recordings by artists across the spectrum of both genres. This double disc contains a CD with 17 cuts by legends and obscurities in jazz, including
King Curtis,
Sun Ra,
Coleman Hawkins,
Art Hodes,
Curtis Fuller,
Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, and
Malachi Thompson. Some of the new cats include
the Deep Blue Organ Trio,
Ted Sirota, and
Eric Alexander. Disc one is loaded with excellent and sometimes rousing performances. There is also a DVD in the package, with performances by
Ari Brown,
Fred Anderson,
Ritual Trio,
Chicago Underground Duo, and
Nicole Mitchell. For the price, this set is literally unbeatable. ~ Thom Jurek
