The greatest hits of Lalo Schifrin — other than ‘Mission: Impossible’

Composer-conductor-pianist Lalo Schifrin shares an unlikely Chicago connection. While growing up in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, young Lalo started his piano studies at age 6 with Enrique Barenboim, father of conductor-pianist Daniel Barenboim. He would go on to become the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1991-2006).

In the early ’50s, after winning a scholarship to the Paris Conservatory, Schifrin studied with French composers Charles Koechlin and Olivier Messiaen. At night, he played in Parisian jazz clubs, later forming his own band and meeting be-bop great Dizzy Gillespie in 1956. 

In 1960, Schifrin moved to New York City, joined Gillespie’s quintet and eventually became Gillespie’s musical director. Two years later, Schifrin left to concentrate on his own writing. Over his long career, Schifrin has written in many genres, including classical. (His Tuba Concerto, composed especially for Gene Pokorny, CSO principal tuba, will be performed June 15-17.) But Schifrin became best known for his jazz- and Latin-tinged film and television soundtracks, mostly famously his work on the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. But Schifrin’s catalog also features these worthy examples:

‘Gillespiana’ (1958)

From the album’s liner notes: “As soon as I had joined Dizzy Gillespie’s band, he said, ‘Why don’t you write something for us?’ His words triggered my imagination, and the ideas started to flow. Diz had been one of my greatest inspirations — still is — and the composition process was intense and exhilarating. A few days later, I took the sketches of Gillespiana to his home and played them on the piano. When I finished, he asked me, ‘How are you going to orchestrate this work?’ I replied, ‘I hear a jazz quintet… plus a brass band.’ Diz immediately called Norman Granz, who was at that time the head of Verve Records. With the telephone in his hand, he asked me how long it would take to arrange it. ‘Three weeks,’ was my response. He told Norman, ‘Book a studio a month from now.’ And this is how Gillespiana was born.”

‘Bullitt’ (1968)

Famous for its thrilling car-chase scene along the streets of San Francisco, this neo-noir stars Steve McQueen as a world-weary dectective on the hunt. Schifrin’s jazz-influenced soundtrack matches the film’s high-octane action, expertly tracking the various moods and setpieces. Schrifin received one of his eventual six Oscar nominations this year, but not for “Bullitt,” instead for “The Fox.”

‘Mannix’ (1969)

Though many regard “Mission: Impossible” as his signature television score, Schifrin’s theme for “Mannix,” the long-running detective series starring Mike Connors, is just as memorable. With its thundering timpani rolls, insistent saxophones and trumpet fanfares, all set to a 3/4 time signature, “Mannix” helped to define the sound of an era. Years later, Schifrin recalled his marching orders from series creator Bruce Geller: “Just make it exciting, because most people are in the kitchen and other rooms, and we want to draw them into the room with the television.” Of this recollection, Schifrin laughed and added, “I wish they were all like that.”

‘Dirty Harry’ (1971)

Starting with “Coogan’s Bluff” (1968), Lalo Schifrin began a long collaboration with fellow jazz aficionado Clint Eastwood. When Eastwood moved into deeper into producing with the “Dirty Harry” series, he brought Schifrin along for the ride. Directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan, the film tracks the serial killer Scorpio (loosely based on the Zodiac case). Schifrin’s music emphasizes the alienated cop motif, and accordingly, he went on to score three of the four Harry sequels.