The Sheldon Presents a Gallery Talk with Robert Koester on 5/1

The Sheldon Art Galleries presents a gallery talk with Robert Koester, founder of Delmark Records and owner of the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago, Saturday, May 1 at 11 a.m. in the History of Jazz Gallery. Koester will speak on the history of Delmark Records in St. Louis in conjunction with the exhibition Legends of St. Louis Blues Music, ongoing through August 28, 2010. Admission Free.

Robert Koester is from Wichita , Kansas and grew up loving blues and jazz, attending live shows, and collecting records and trading them while still in high school. He came to St. Louis to attend St. Louis University and sold records by mail order from his dorm room. He joined the St. Louis Jazz Club and met Ron Fister, a fellow record collector, and together they opened a small store K&F Sales which then became the Blue Note Record Shop.

After parting ways, Koester started Delmar Records in 1953 on Delmar Boulevard . That same year he released a record by the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group. He obtained the help of St. Louis City policeman Charlie O'Brien, a fellow member of the St. Louis Jazz Club, in locating veteran bluesmen still living in the city. Koester moved to Chicago in 1958 and purchased Seymour 's Jazz Mart in 1959, with the store later becoming the Jazz Record Mart. He changed the name of his record label to Delmark and in the mid-1960s began focusing on Chicago blues artists such as Junior Wells, Robert Lockwood and Otis Rush. Delmark Records celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003.

Organized by the Sheldon Art Galleries , the exhibition Legends of St. Louis Blues Music tells the story of the rich history of blues music in St. Louis through biographies on key musicians, illustrations by Kevin Belford, photographs by Jennifer Silverberg, Charley Taylor, Bob Shelli and Photo Joe, ephemera, recordings and memorabilia like Johnnie Johnson's electric piano, among other rarities. Building on its key role in ragtime music, St. Louis was a gathering place for early blues musicians like Roosevelt Sykes, Peetie Wheatstraw, Henry Townsend, and Victoria Spivey, among other luminaries. This exhibition uncovers important St. Louis musicians, songs and blues music styles that have influenced our musical heritage, including jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and roll, and a continually evolving blues tradition.

Gallery Hours are Tuesdays, Noon - 8 p.m.; Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, Noon - 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and one hour prior to Sheldon performances and during intermission. Admission is free. For more information on the exhibition visit the galleries' website at www.thesheldon.org/galleries.asp. The exhibition is made possible by Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg , The Engelhardt Family Foundation, and Steve and Andi Schankman.

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