Delmark, the seminal Chicago indie blues and jazz label is celebrating its 50th anniversary with every manner of glad goings-on:

Special notes:
-2003 is the "Year of the Blues."
-This year's 20th Annual Chicago Blues Festival (May 29 - June 1) has
planned a tribute to Delmark, the "Golden Jubilee of Delmark Records."
-This year's 25th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival (August 28 - 31) has planned
a tribute to Delmark Records.
-Chicago blues club, Buddy Guy's Legends, will host a Delmark 50th
Anniversary celebration on May 9th featuring performances by Jimmy Dawkins,
Johnny B Moore, Willie Kent (2003 WC Handy nominee), Little Arthur Duncan,
Bonnie Lee, and Shirley Johnson (2003 WC Handy nominee).

The biggest news is the release of Delmark historic collections in April:

"Delmark - 50 Years Of Jazz And Blues — Jazz" (Delmark DD-904)
2 CD set at a budget price celebrating Delmark's rich jazz recorded legacy!
28 songs including previously unissued tracks by Sonny Stitt and Tab Smith;
tracks not currently on other Delmark CDs by Malachi Thompson's Africa
Brass featuring Gary Bartz, Art Hodes and from September 19, 1953 The Windy
City Six. Also featuring Coleman Hawkins, Sun Ra, Illinois Jacquet, Archie
Shepp, Dinah Washington, Franz Jackson, Sir Charles Thompson, Barrett
Deems, Ira Sullivan, Francine Griffin, Muhal Richard Abrams, Jimmy Forrest,
Fred Anderson, Roscoe Mitchell, Chicago Underground Trio, Jeff Parker, Ken
Vandermark, Roy Campbell, Frank Catalano & Von Freeman, Zane Massey and
more.

"Delmark - 50 Years Of Jazz And Blues — Blues" (Delmark DD-905)
2 CD set at a budget price celebrating Delmark's rich blues recorded
legacy! 32 songs including previously unissued tracks by Junior Wells with
The Aces, Magic Sam, J.B. Hutto, Big Joe Williams and Sleepy John Estes.
Also featuring Otis Rush, Lurrie Bell, Karen Carroll,Luther Allison,Syl
Johnson, Little Milton, Carey Bell, Robert Ward, Little Walter with Muddy
Waters, Zora Young, Willie Kent, Jimmy Burns, Albert Ammons with Meade Lux
Lewis and Pete Johnson, Steve Freund, Dave Specter, Frank Morey, Speckled
Red, Eddie Burns, Edith Wilson, The Moroccos, Tail Dragger, Roosevelt
Sykes, Reginald Robinson, Big Time Sarah, Jesse Fortune, The Big DooWopper
and Sunnyland Slim.

"Delmark - 50 Years Of Jazz And Blues — Jazz & Blues Box Set" (Delmark DX-50)
4 CD box set plus bonus Video CD celebrating Delmark's rich jazz and blues
recorded legacy! Contains 2 CD Jazz (DD-904), 2 CD Blues (DD-905). Bonus
Video CD features "Down By The Riverside", a video montage of recent
Delmark recording sessions and performances, and "A Tribute To Delmark
Records", a documentary profiling the independent spirit of Delmark Records
and its owner Bob Koester.

Here's a little bit of Bob's Delmark history:

When Koester was a child growing up in Wichita, Kansas, popular music was in the throws of the Big Band craze. He spent afternoons listening to Fats Waller, Zutty Singleton, Barney Bigard and Coleman Hawkins on the radio. As a teenager, Koester sought out live performances anywhere he could catch them. At the age of fourteen he witnessed a concert that featured Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing and Illinois Jacquet. Searching for artists such as these became a passion.

"In high school I saw Lionel Hampton. Hamp used to come and play at the Forum. It was for black people but they let whites sit in the balcony. By the last set everybody kinda' forgot about racial barriers. Everybody was out on the floor dancing. I went back there two or three times to see Hamp. Once I went to a place called the Rock Castle Supper Club for a session that involved Clifford Brown. In my last year of high school I heard Lonnie Johnson was in town. I remember Lonnie played violin which seemed to be electronically amplified. I tried to visit him the next day but he left town before I got there. I called him and he said, 'Man I was up all night, call me back in three hours.' Three hours later, Mr. Johnson was checked out. Later on when I met him I kidded him about it. I said, 'you had this starry-eyed fan in Kansas and you screwed him by leaving town, checking out before he could talk with you.' "

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