More Robison and Gershwin, Plus Rodziński and Harry James

Our friends David Federman and 8H Haggis have been busy again, with more treasures coming our way.

David has added three volumes to his Willard Robison retrospective, covering recordings from the 1930s through the 1950s devoted to this poetic songwriter. The artists involved include Mildred Bailey, Bea Wain, Fats Waller, Bing Crosby, Dick Todd, Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller and Tex Beneke, Tommy Dorsey and Jack Leonard, Stan Kenton and Gene Howard, Randy Brooks, Charlie Barnet and Kay Starr, Ella Logan, Artie Shaw and Martha Tilton, Tony Pastor, Gene Autry, Dolph Hewitt, Phil Harris, Rosemary Clooney, Jimmy Dean, Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman and Peggy Lee. You can find all three collections plus David's notes in the comments to the post immediately below. Please note that his links will only be good for a few days, so hurry. I will collect all these recordings into one download at a later date.

Awhile back David prepared an anthology of Rhapsody in Blue recordings, all but one released within a decade of the work's 1924 premiere. To me, the highlights are Oscar Levant's first attempt at the piece, dating from 1927 and helmed by NBC orchestra leader Frank Black, and two deconstructions of the piece from the jaunty Leroy Smith and (once again) Willard Robison bands. David mentioned that a few of the sides were in less-than-pristine condition, so I have taken the perhaps unforgivable liberty of remastering them. A link is in the comments to this post.

Also in a Gershwin mood was 8H Haggis. He has contributed a set from the Symphony of the Air conducted by the now-obscure Alfonso D'Artega including An American in Paris, a somewhat altered version of the Porgy & Bess suite, plus a peculiar Rhapsody in Blue that opens with a piano solo from "Suzanne Auber" (probably Sondra Bianca), joined halfway by the orchestra. He also uploaded a French Columbia LP of the Rhapsody and the Three Preludes from Jose Iturbi and the Concerts Colonne Orchestra. You can find those in the comments to this post.

8H also took his tools to my transfer of Artur Rodziński's New York recording of An American in Paris, with the aim of counteracting the compression and peak discoloration on the recording. This effort can be found in the comments to my original post.

Two additional 8H contributions: Rodziński's long-unavailable version of Wolf-Ferrari's Secret of Susanna Overture (in the comments to this post) and Howard Hanson's Samuel Barber LP, containing the Symphony No. 1, Adagio for Strings, Essay No. 1, and School for Scandal Overture. Go to the comments of this post for the Barber.

As always, the 8H Haggis uploads are only available for a limited time.

I have one reupload of my one - my friend Mel contributed Harry James' Soft Lights and Sweet Trumpet LP many years ago, and I have now remastered it and reupped it here.

I might add that I do occasionally transfer records myself, and you can look forward to a superb Marian Anderson LP of Brahms and Mahler in the days ahead.