NIGHT AND DAY: A Cole Porter Album. Joan Morris, mezzo-soprano; William Bolcom, piano. Omega OCD 3002 (compact disc).

More than 15 years ago, Morris and Bolcom began lifting early American songs out of obscurity or commercialized nostalgia with splendidly characterized performances on LP. Now, they have turned to Cole Porter songs of the 1919-1950 period, among them “Night and Day,” “In the Still of the Night” and “Begin the Beguine.” The performances remain exemplary, but the effort falls short of most of the earlier programs because, with few exceptions, the music and lyrics are second-rate and more dated than material written decades earlier. Other Morris and Bolcom discs have brought old songs alive to new generations; this one is pure nostalgia for Porter’s generation.