The Summer of Reups

It occurred to me that I have been producing any number of remastered versions of my previous uploads, without telling anyone about them, except for people who may requested a reupload. Today I've brought together quite a number of these, in case some of you might be interested.

Here they are, separated by genre. The header links lead to the original posts, which in some cases have been revised and often have new artwork. The sound files have been thoroughly reworked and are now in ambient stereo (assuming the original was mono).

Classical

Leinsdorf Conducts Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Schubert and the Strausses. Several LPs conducted by the young Erich Leinsdorf, including the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Mozart's Symphonies No. 35, 40 and 41, the Schubert Unfinished Symphony, and waltzes from the Strauss family.

Ravel and Debussy from Cleveland and Rodziński. Excellent 1940-41 recordings from the Cleveland Orchestra and its music director Artur Rodziński - Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2 and Rapsodie Espagnole and Debussy's La Mer. 

Schumann, Rimsky-Korsakov and More from Cleveland and Leinsdorf. Leinsdorf's 1946 valedictory recordings from Cleveland, including the Schumann Symphony No. 1, Rimsky-Korsakov's Antar and music by Mozart, Schubert and Josef Strauss.

Joseph and Lillian Fuchs Play Mozart. A fine 1961 LP from the Fuchs siblings, with the duo in Mozart's E-flat Sinfonia Concertante, and Joseph in an Adagio and Rondo by the same composer. Frederic Waldman conducts the Musica Aeterna Orchestra.

Jazz

Poetry Set to Jazz Music. Poets and jazz musicians began collaborating in the 1950s, and this LP is one of the outcomes. For me, the high point is Bob Dorough's recitation and music for Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem Dog. A classic!

Mary Osborne's A Girl and Her Guitar. This is the only LP the talented instrumentalist Mary Osborne recorded under her own name, for the short-lived, but very interesting Warwick label, in 1959. She also sang, as you can hear on my other blog.

Baby Dodds - Talking and Drum Solos. The pioneering and legendary New Orleans drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds talks about his craft and demonstrates his work via drum solos. Originally issued in 1946 on Asch, this is a 1951 reissue on Folkways.

Vocal

Lena Horne Sings. In this, her first LP, the great singer Lena Horne collects records that she made in the late 40s for M-G-M. These are among her earliest releases, ones that in some ways were never surpassed.

Polly Bergen - Little Girl Blue. If Lena Horne was cool, Polly Bergen was the opposite. Every song was a mini-melodrama, even in this, her first LP, from 1955. The wonder is that she does it so well, it is compelling listening.

Johnny Green on Decca. OK, Johnny Green was not a singer, but this is a vocal record, because he features vocalists Kay Thompson, Ralph Blane and Barbara Ames throughout this early LP that collects 1944 recordings. I've now augmented it with a few other Green releases.

Johnny Desmond - Hands Across the Table. Crooner Johnny Desmond recorded for M-G-M for several years. For this post, I transferred his first LP, included four more songs from its 12-inch reissue, and then added a few for good measure.

And Finally ...

Morton Gould - Manhattan Moods. The composer-conductor Morton Gould never made a better album than this set devoted to New York. It starts off with Louis Alter's familiar "Manhattan Serenade," with the other selections of similar quality.

Chuck Wagon Gang - Favorite Country Hymns. The family group of country gospel singers was on the air for decades. This early LP collects some of their first recordings (1936-40) along with two songs from 1948.

A Merry Christmas from Signature Records. It's Christmas in July! This 1947 album comes from a label that didn't last very long but still put out some interesting records. Presenting the holiday tunes are singer Monica Lewis and bandleaders Johnny Long and Ray Bloch.