Jazz Record Mart
There were saxophone-like wails of lament when owner/proprietor Bob Koester closed Jazz Record Mart in February due to the increasingly high rent, and sold his entire remaining inventory. The store had for decades been a mecca at its 27 East Illinois location—a sprawling space that catered to everyone from lunch-break boomers picking up a Harry Connick Jr. CD for date night, to the hardcore specialist seeking a particular seventy-eight by Buddy Bolden. What a happy surprise, then, when not quite three months later he reopened the shop at 4121 North Rockwell, and somehow managed to stock 9,000 titles right out of the gate. And this month he’s moved it into even larger space in Old Irving Park. Did someone say “encore”?
Bob’s Blues & Jazz Mart, 3419 W. Irving Park, 773-539-5002, delmark.com
Best of Chicago 2016
