The Blue Angel (1959) Edward Dmytryk, Curd Jürgens, May Britt, Theodore Bikel

Jacques Demy's auspicious debut – "a musical without music" set in the port city of Nantes – stars Anouk Aimée as the title character, a cabaret singer awaiting the return of Michel (Jacques Hardin), her long-absent lover and the father of her child. Michel went to America seven years ago and promised to return when he became rich. In Michel's absence, Lola is being courted by her childhood friend Roland (Marc Michel) and American sailor Frankie (Allan Scott). At some point, it seems that Lola will settle down with one of them, but her heart still belongs to Michel. The film is dedicated to Max Ophüls and the film title obviously alludes to Ophüls' Lola Montes as well as to the heroine of Josef Von Sternberg's The Blue Angel. Marc Michel makes a reference to his unrequited love towards Lola when he reappears in Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964).

Prior to becoming the iconoclastic vocalist who would revolutionize the role of women in rock & roll during the 1980s, Cyndi Lauper fronted Blue Angel, a retro-rock quintet that was all too short-lived. Their sound recalls all that is good (OK, great) about the superbly crafted early-'60s pop music genre – especially female-led units such as the Angels and the Ronettes. Producer Roy Halee perfectly re-creates Phil Spector's Wagner-ian "Wall of Sound" on the upbeat "I Had a Love" – complete with timpani interjections and percussive castanet flourishes – as well as "Just the Other Day," throwing in more than a hint of a reggae shuffle backbeat.

Prior to becoming the iconoclastic vocalist who would revolutionize the role of women in rock & roll during the 1980s, Cyndi Lauper fronted Blue Angel, a retro-rock quintet that was all too short-lived. Their sound recalls all that is good (OK, great) about the superbly crafted early-'60s pop music genre – especially female-led units such as the Angels and the Ronettes…

Blowin' the Blues Away is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver, released on the Blue Note label in 1959 featuring performances by Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, and Louis Hayes. The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 4½ stars and states "Blowin' the Blues Away" is one of Horace Silver's all-time Blue Note classics… one of Silver's finest albums, and it's virtually impossible to dislike".

Blue Mitchell - Blue Soul (1959) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #22of27)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 312 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 131 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 284 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remastering
© 1959, 2008 Concord / Riverside | 0888072305083
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Orrin Keepnews' commentary (from the original liner notes): “This is Blue Mitchell's third album as a leader. The first two were very good and well worth the attention of the jazz-listening public. But this present album is something else. It represents so definite and striking a forward step…with this recording Blue would seem to have stepped over the invisible line: He is no longer merely 'promising,' he has arrived…The most significant 'new' factor in the sound and content of Mitchell's playing is something best described as confidence, or authority.”