Still: Symphony 2; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony; Ellington: Harlem
Dawson'sNegro Folk Symphonyhad an early advocate in the person  of Leopold Stokowski, who actually recorded it. It's a lively and colorful work,  but the real find is the Second Symphony by Still. It's a thousand pities that  no one has done the complete cycle (there are five of them), for he was a  wonderful composer. If Gershwin had been a symphonist, this is what his music  might have sounded like. There's the same "jazz fusion," but also a true  elegance of utterance that places Still at the forefront of American composers  of his era. Järvi and the Detroit Symphony do the music proud, and Ellington's  classic, arranged for full symphony orchestra, sounds great.--David  Hurwitz