| News for Lulu | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Recorded | August 28 & 30, 1987 | |||
| Genre | Hard bop | |||
| Length | 72:42 | |||
| Label | HatHut | |||
| Producer | John Zorn | |||
| John Zorn chronology | ||||
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| 2008 Reissue Cover | ||||
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News for Lulu is an album of hard bop compositions performed by saxophonist John Zorn, trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell.
Released in 1987, the album features tunes associated with the classic hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s, written by Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Freddie Redd and Sonny Clark. News for Lulu is primarily a studio recording, though live versions of three of the studio tracks are included at the end of the album. Though Zorn, Lewis and Frisell were mostly known at the time for playing experimental music, the hard bop songs are interpreted in a manner that's mostly faithful to the originals.
The original cover photograph features the actress Louise Brooks who played 'Lulu' in the silent film Pandora's Box (1929), evoking the song "News for Lulu" by Clark. 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.
The same group later released the recording More News for Lulu, which featured 1989 live performances drawn mostly from the same group of hard bop compositions.