News for Lulu is an album of hard bop

Hard bop

Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...

 compositions performed by John Zorn

John Zorn

John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...

, George Lewis

George Lewis (trombonist)

George E. Lewis is a trombone player, composer, and scholar in the fields of jazz and experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians since 1971, and is a pioneer of computer music.- Biography :Lewis graduated from Yale University with a...

 and Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell

William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...

. The album features tunes by Kenny Dorham

Kenny Dorham

McKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...

, Hank Mobley

Hank Mobley

Henry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...

, Freddie Redd

Freddie Redd

Freddie Redd is an American hard bop pianist and composer.His greatest success came in the late 1950s in the play and movie The Connection, in which he both played and acted in New York City, London, and Paris. He also played on the soundtrack album...

 and Sonny Clark

Sonny Clark

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark was an American jazz pianist who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.-Biography:...

 recorded in the studio and live at the Willislau Jazz Festival. The original cover photograph features the actress Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks

Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...

 who played 'Lulu' in the silent film Pandora's Box

Pandora's Box (film)

Pandora's Box is a 1929 German silent melodrama film based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora . Directed by Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst, the film stars Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer...

(1929). It was released in 1988 on the Swiss HatHUT Record label, and re-released in 1993 and again in 2008 with a new cover and additional take of "Melanie" recorded live at Jazzfestival Willisau on August 30, 1987.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow

Scott Yanow

Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...

 states "There are hints of the avant-garde here and there, but also plenty of swinging, bop-oriented solos and coherent ensembles. Very intriguing music that is highly recommended to a wide audience of jazz and general listeners".

Track listing

1. "KD's Motion" (Dorham) - 3:32
2. "Funk In Deep Freeze" (Mobley) - 4:31
3. "Melanie" (Redd) - 4:07
4. "Melody For C" (Clark) - 4:26
5. "Lotus Blossom" (Dorham) - 4:08
6. "Eastern Incident" (Clark) - 4:04
7. "Peckin' Time" (Mobley) - 3:13
8. "Blues Blues Blues" (Redd) - 4:17
9. "Blue Minor" take 1 (Clark) - 3:43
10. "This I Dig Of You" (Mobley) - 3:13
11. "Venita's Dance" (Dorham) - 3:23
12. "News For Lulu" (Clark) - 4:07
13. "Ole" (Redd) - 3:47
14. "Sonny's Crib" (Clark) - 5:22
15. "Hank's Other Tune" (Mobley) - 3:52
16. "Blue Minor" take 2 (Clark) - 3:26
17. "Windmill" (Dorham) - 0:40
18. "News For Lulu" (Clark) - 4:19
19. "Funk In Deep Freeze" (Mobley) - 3:29
20. "Windmill" (Dorham) - 1:03
    • Tracks 1-17 recorded at Soundville Recording Studio Lucerne on August 28, 1987. Tracks 18-20 recorded live at Jazzfestival Willisau on August 30, 1987.

Personnel

• John Zorn
  John Zorn
  John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
  
  : alto saxophone
• George Lewis
  George Lewis (trombonist)
  George E. Lewis is a trombone player, composer, and scholar in the fields of jazz and experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians since 1971, and is a pioneer of computer music.- Biography :Lewis graduated from Yale University with a...
  
  : trombone
• Bill Frisell
  Bill Frisell
  William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
  
  : guitar