{"id":2904,"date":"2021-05-19T17:09:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T21:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2904"},"modified":"2021-05-19T17:09:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T21:09:48","slug":"record-man-koesters-blues-and-jazz-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2021\/05\/record-man-koesters-blues-and-jazz-legacy.html","title":{"rendered":"Record man Koester’s blues and jazz legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chicagoan Bob Koester, proprietor of the Jazz Record Mart and Delmark Records for nearly 70 years, is a model of music activism and entrepreneurship from an era rapidly receding and unlikely in current business circumstances. Neil Genzlinger did a nice formal New York Times obit<\/a>, and I’ve written a remembrance<\/a> for the Chicago Reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bob Koester at the Jazz Record Mart, photo by Michael Jackson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Although some independent record stores dealing new and used physical recordings remain in Chicago, I know of none co-joined to an active independent record company, and at the hub of a metropolis-wide community (or interlocking communities) of musicians, fans, writers, photographers, recording engineers and casual listeners. To do that all that now requires a media savvy and bankroll that dwarfs what was possible pre-Internet anad prior to big media industry consolidations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I continue to believe a personal vision with lots of energy behind it can break through at least to the point of surviving, even if it’s concerned with niche or off-brand content. That is to say more clearly: If you want to get some art out, yours or someone else’s, being smart and determined you’ll find a way to make a mark. A scratch or a dent maybe more than a splash, but that’s something. And who knows where it can lead. When Bob Koester started even his new record store<\/a>, when he recorded or obtained and issued what have become enduring classic albums by Speckled Red<\/a> and Big Joe Williams<\/a>, Junior Wells<\/a>, Luther Allison <\/a>and Magic Sam<\/a>, the first Sun Ra<\/a>, Roscoe Mitchell <\/a>and the other AACM originals (Jarman<\/a>, Muhal<\/a>, Kalaparusha<\/a>, Braxton<\/a>) as well as late career works by artists of earlier decades (Edith Wilson<\/a>, Roosevelt Sykes<\/a>, Art Hodes<\/a>, Sleepy John Estes<\/a>, Franz Jackson<\/a>, too many to mention) — when he co-founded the Jazz Institute of Chicago <\/a>(he insisted blues be part of its portfolio, and knew a lot of musicians to contact for performances) — could he have foreseen what would come of his efforts<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does anyone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicagoan Bob Koester, proprietor of the Jazz Record Mart and Delmark Records for nearly 70 years, is a model of music activism and entrepreneurship from an era rapidly receding and unlikely in current business circumstances. Neil Genzlinger did a nice formal New York Times obit, and I’ve written a remembrance for the Chicago Reader. Although […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1884,1880,351,1886,1878,352,345,353,856,1881,1885,1883,1882,287,1877,1876,732,1879],"class_list":{"0":"post-2904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"tag-anthony-brafton","9":"tag-big-joe-williams","10":"tag-bob-koester","11":"tag-bobs-blues-and-jazz-mart","12":"tag-chicago-reader","13":"tag-delmark-records","14":"tag-jazz-institute-of-chicago","15":"tag-jazz-record-mart","16":"tag-joseph-jarman","17":"tag-junior-wells","18":"tag-kalaparusha-maurice-mcintyre","19":"tag-luther-allison","20":"tag-magic-sam","21":"tag-muhal-richard-abrams","22":"tag-neil-genzlinger","23":"tag-new-york-times-obituary","24":"tag-roscoe-mitchell","25":"tag-speckled-red","26":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Bob-Koester-00115x7-BW-JJ-1200x798-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-KQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":214,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/06\/chicagos_quirky_hero_of_blues.html","url_meta":{"origin":2904,"position":0},"title":"Chicago’s quirky hero of blues and jazz in NYT","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"June 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Bob Koester, owner-operator of Delmark Records and the Jazz Record Mart, is celebrated in the New York Times'\u00c2\u00a0Arts & Leisure\u00c2\u00a0section today. 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I'm among the many music fans who grew up in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/tbn3.google.com\/images?q=tbn:DalLvsYcumg7YM:http:\/\/livebluesworld.ning.com\/PhotoUpload\/bobk.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1352,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/05\/delmark-records-turns-60-deep-in-the-catalogs-classics.html","url_meta":{"origin":2904,"position":1},"title":"Delmark Records turns 60 — deep in the catalog’s classics","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Congrats to Bob Koester, indie owner and producer of Chicago's Delmark Records, on the label's 60th anniversary, which it celebrated over the weekend -- and lucky are listeners to jazz beyond jazz for the broad yet niche-like taste that has informed his Quixotic efforts from the start. 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