Jazz Articles

Lalo Schifrin: Return of the Marquis de Sade

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2002

Return of the Marquis de Sade (Aleph)

After a number of big-band albums, most notably in the well-received “Jazz Meets the Symphony" series, composer / arranger / pianist Lalo Schifrin returns to a small(er)-group format for (most of) Return of the Marquis de Sade, an atmospheric sequel to his tongue-in-cheek album of more than three decades ago, The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music from the Past as Performed by the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to ...

Lalo Schifrin: Jazz Goes to Hollywood

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2001

First, a round of applause to Lalo Schifrin for having introduced Jazz into so many of his film scores over the years. A number of his charming and well–crafted soundtrack themes have become best–selling hits for such Jazz artists as Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery and George Benson, which is a remarkable phenomenon in light of the fact that music written for films seldom translates well to other media. On Jazz Goes to Hollywood, the composer has enlisted the services of ...

Lalo Schifrin: Esperanto

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

Composer / conductor Lalo Schifrin has chosen an interesting name for this ambitious work — a concerto grosso in six movements for big band and soloists — using Ludwig Zamenhof’s Esperanto as a metaphor from which to advance his belief that there is indeed a universal language, but that language is music, not esperanto or any other man–made tongue. If any proof of that were needed, Schifrin produces it in abundance with a series of remarkably colorful and readily accessible ...

Lalo Schifrin: Mannix

by Douglas Payne
December 1, 1999

Here is the music that has - until now - been something like the Holy Grail in Lalo Schifrin's catalog. The original 1969 Paramount LP is one of the composer's best and most dynamic collections of sounds. But it's proven to be too expensive or too impossible for fans to locate. Even the composer himself has spent the last year or so attempting to get the Paramount LP released on CD. But after ongoing frustrations, he opted to record the ...

Lalo Schifrin: Metamorphosis -- Jazz Meets the Symphony, Vol. 4

by Jack Bowers
December 1, 1998

The fourth in pianist Lalo Schifrin’s series of “classical/Jazz” encounters is perhaps the most rewarding to date, thanks in large measure to Lalo’s unflagging imagination, his superb compositions and arrangements, and the inspiriting presence of several renowned guest artists including bassist Ray Brown, drummer Jeff Hamilton, Australian trumpet master James Morrison, conga drummer Francisco Aguabella and violinist/guitarist Markus Weinstroer. Together with the London Symphony Orchestra, they have fashioned a recording that is at once regal and venturesome. Its showpiece is ...

Lalo Schifrin / WDR Big Band: Gillespiana

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 1998

Those who know Lalo Shifrin only from film scores and studio work may be surprised to learn that he once played piano in Dizzy Gillespie’s quintet. In 1960, Gillespie introduced Schifrin’s “Gillespiana,” a five–movement sound–portrait of Dizzy’s life and music that was completed only a few days after Gillespie asked him, “When are you going to write something for us?” To say that Schifrin took the suggestion to heart would be an understatement. “Gillespiana” is a major work by any ...

Lalo Schifrin: Metamorphosis: Jazz Meets The Symphony #4

by Douglas Payne
August 1, 1998

Composer/pianist Lalo Schifrin endures as an interesting film music composer for, among other things, his ability to enhance or create effective moods. For this, the fourth in his “jazz meets the symphony" series, Schifrin concocts perhaps his most moody affair yet and, perhaps, the nicest of the bunch since the second set on Atlantic (1993). Again fronting the London Symphony Orchestra, Schifrin reunites on this 1998 recording with trumpeter James Morrison and bassist Ray Brown and adds drummer Jeff Hamilton, ...

Lalo Schifrin: Gillespiana

by Douglas Payne
June 1, 1998

A true joy, Gillespiana revisits the classic five-part jazz suite Lalo Schifrin created for trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie in 1960. It is a brilliant, consistently inventive work that has lost none of its appeal or sheen over nearly four decades worth of time. Surprisingly, Gillespiana has not been recorded since its initial debut in 1960 until now – although Gillespie often performed the work throughout his career and Schifrin presented a 35th anniversary version at New York City's Lincoln Center ...