HispanicBusiness

--N.C.

"Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard: Hard Time, Good Time & End Time Music, 1923-1936" (Tompkins Square, 3 { stars)

The majority of this breathtaking old-time country music is all the more precious because folklorist Nathan Salsburg literally rescued it from the trash heap after the death of Louisville, Ky., 78 collector Don Wahle. The compilation gathers rural string band and sacred music makers in songs like Alfred G. Karnes' dream of heavenly escape "Where We'll Never Grow Old." (3 CDs, $32.98, 3 LPs, $45.98)

--D.D.

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Jazz:

THE BRECKER BROTHERS "The Complete Arista Albums Collection" (Sony, 3 { stars)

Trumpeter Randy and tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker were elite New York session players who formed their own band of like-minded compadres, mixing jazz and funk. This set represents their complete works from 1975 to 1982, including six CDs under their own names and two live nights at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The collection starts off high with 1975's "The Brecker Bros." and drifts downward, with disco elements and collaborators who don't quite fit. Yet the daring remained, with amazing solos, experiments with electronically altered horns, and a keenness for funk. By the final CDs, they've come full circle, back to being sidemen, albeit leading ones. (8 CDs, $69.98)

--Karl Stark

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND "50th Anniversary Collection" (Columbia/ Legacy, 4 stars)

Preservation Hall -- New Orleans' traditional jazz venue -- was started by the late Allan Jaffe, a Pottsville, Pa., native who leveraged a Wharton degree to create a permanent home for classic Crescent City music. Now run by his son Ben, Preservation Hall sits atop arguably the most important vein of popular American music extant. There is no way not to be charmed by these cuts, recorded between 1962 and 2010, and plucked from the vaults of Atlantic Records, CBS Records, Sony, and the hall's label. There's humor and pathos and enough energy to blow back a hurricane. (4 CDs, $59.98)

--K.S.

CHARLES MINGUS "The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65" (Mosaic Records, 4 stars)

Long before the current DIY craze in music, bassist and composer Charles Mingus was recording his own music, intending to put it out himself. Now, to honor what would have been his 90th year, his wife Sue has done just that, releasing seven discs from 1964-65, covering 13 months of live concerts at New York's Town Hall along with venues in Minneapolis, Amsterdam, and Monterey, Calif. The recordings catch Mingus just after Eric Dolphy died and as great works like "Fables of Faubus" were coming into focus. The ambition is outsized, the energy undeniable. (7 CDs, $119, mosaicrecords.com)

--K.S.

BESSIE SMITH "The Complete Columbia Recordings" (Columbia/ Legacy, 4 stars)

The five vinyl volumes of 1920s blues empress Bessie Smith's "Complete Recordings" that Columbia issued in the '70s are not to be improved upon. Wisely, this set, which captures the fierce and formidable Empress of the Blues in her swaggering glory, and with sidemen including Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman, doesn't mess with a winning formula, turning the 5 double-LP sets into 10 CDs. The packaging is minimal, the music masterful. (10 CDs, $79.99)

--D.D.

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Classical:

SZYMON GOLDBERG "Vol. 2 Commercial Recordings 1932-1951" (Music & Arts, 3 { stars)

Violinist Goldberg, who was the Berlin Philharmonic's concertmaster before the Nazi era and later on the Curtis Institute faculty, is said to have found the quiet center of everything he played. Such wisdom, especially when collaborating with pianist Lili Kraus, glimmers through the decades in some of the greatest-ever recordings of Haydn piano trios and violin sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven. Though the sound quality initially seems dated, these audio restorations by Mark Obert-Thorn are far superior to any previous issues, and reveal even greater artistic riches. A true connoisseur item. (8 CDs, $96)

--David Patrick Stearns

WAGNER "Der Ring des Nibelungen" Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter, Wolfgang Windgassen et al. Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti conducting. (Decca, 4 stars)

This first studio-recorded "Ring" cycle has a special mystique: It caught old-guard singers while they were still good, captured the new generation, and had cameo appearances from superstars such as Kirsten Flagstad and Joan Sutherland -- all under Solti's excitingly nervous baton. The recordings still sound great, and in this incarnation arrive in a huge package with extensive documentation (including a book about the recording) plus a documentary DVD. Don't be frightened off by the list price. It's available in many places at one-third the price. (17 CDs, one DVD, $299.95)