The George H. Buck Jr. Jazz Foundation was created by George Buck in 1986 to maintain the catalog of his jazz record labels. The catalog features Dixieland jazz, Big Band, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, and cabaret music.
Buck started his first label, Jazzology Records, in 1949 when he recorded a band in New York City that consisted of three of his favorite musicians: Wild Bill Davison, Tony Parenti, and Art Hodes. He became part of the first wave of small independent record companies. This label is now the oldest independent record label worldwide, followed closely by Swaggie Records of Australia, founded later in 1949, and Storyville Records of Denmark, which started business in 1952. In the U.S. Delmark Records was founded in 1958.
In 1954 Buck formed GHB Records, which specialized in Dixieland jazz. By the time he created the foundation, he had already acquired about 15 diverse jazz record labels.
The foundation operates in the old French Market of New Orleans, issuing previously unavailable or out-of-print music. It also has book and DVD divisions.