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Neeme Järvi, ever the expert architect, has over the years fashioned the Detroit Symphony into a world-class orchestra. Here, they take on two important African American composers, Duke Ellington and William Levi Dawson, whose music only works if the conductor and orchestra know what they're doing. Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony (1934, rev. 1954) is a showpiece for obscure Negro folk melodies framed in standard 19th century Romanticism (mostly influenced by Dvorák, who was himself influenced by American Negro spirituals, as in his famous Ninth Symphony). The showstoppers here, however, are three works by Duke Ellington, with "Harlem" the genuine standout. And talk about musicians knowing their chops: Catch the impossibly high trumpet notes (Walter White and William Lucas) reached at the end. Järvi and the Detroit get everything here absolutely right. Highly recommended. --Paul Cook