David Witter

Like Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, in which it initially set out to sell. Since taking over from Seymour's Jazz Record Mart at 439 South Wabash in 1959, The Jazz Record Mart's bulletin board and aisles have been a virtual switchboard for musicians coming into town seeking gigs or simply needing a place to stay. It has also been a training ground and source of income for jazz and blues artists and fans. Some of JRM's former employees include sixties rock icon Mike Bloomfield, blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, Alligator Record's founder and CEO Bruce Iglauer, Earwig Record's President Michael Franks and too many other critics and musicians to mention.

But the real magic at the Jazz Record Mart occurred in the basement. During the 1960s and early seventies, the stores at 7 West Grand and later 11 West Grand also served as the office, packaging plant and warehouse for Delmark Records. In the mid-1960s, Delmark changed the face of contemporary jazz by recording avant-garde artists like the AACM, Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton. On the blues side, the Junior Well's "Hoo Doo Man Blues," was the first blues studio effort to be created as an album.

Since then, Delmark has produced hundreds of jazz and blues albums, foregoing the industry standards of profit in order to document the music. The same credo also applies to the Jazz Record Mart. In an era where product placement and "narrowcasting" often limits a CD store's selection from Beyonce to Beyonce, the Jazz Record Mart is still the world's-largest jazz and blues store. It carries "tens of thousands" of new and used LPs, CDs, 45s, cassettes, DVDs, books, magazines, T-shirts and posters. In jazz, you can find the works of almost every major artist from Jelly Roll Morton through Norah Jones. It also has a similar selection of blues, as well as folk, gospel, international and world music. Simply said, if they can't find a commercial jazz or blues recording, new, used, or otherwise at the JRM, it probably doesn't exist.

The Jazz Record Mart, 27 East Illinois, (312)222-1467

(2006-10-10)

Also by David Witter

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Hops in Horto
Drinking is illegal and strictly enforced on all Chicago beaches, and, with limited exceptions, the only way to see the beach from a Chicago bar is with binoculars. As for the northern suburbs, alcohol is not only outlawed on the beaches, but in many of the towns as well. Yet there are still some Chicago locations where you can enjoy a clandestine six-pack or a romantic bottle of wine
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A Pizza History
Pizza migrated from Naples to America via Chicago and Taylor Street, but according to "The History of Pizza," that was just one in many Chicago events that shaped the round pie
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Feeding Frenzy
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A Fish Story
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The Pork-Chop Wars
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The Chicago Archives of Alcohol
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Song Sung Blues
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Death in the Woods
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Puppy love
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Last, last call
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