Lalo Schifrin
Encyclopedia
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible
". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations. Schifrin, associated with the jazz
music genre, is also noted for work with Clint Eastwood
in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, particularly the Dirty Harry films
.
to Jewish parents. His father, Luis Schifrin, led the second violin section of the orchestra
at the Teatro Colón for three decades. At the age of six, Schifrin began a six-year course of study on piano with Enrique Barenboim, the father of the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim
. At age 16, Schifrin began studying piano with the Russian expatriate
Andreas Karalis, former head of the Kiev Conservatory
, and harmony with Argentine composer Juan Carlos Paz. During this time, Schifrin also became interested in jazz
.
Although Schifrin studied sociology
and law
at the University of Buenos Aires
, it was music that captured his attention. At age 20, he successfully applied for a scholarship to the Paris Conservatoire. While there, he attended Olivier Messiaen
's classes and formally studied with Charles Koechlin
, a disciple of Maurice Ravel
. At night he played jazz in the Paris clubs. In 1955, Schifrin played piano with Ástor Piazzolla
and represented his country at the International Jazz Festival in Paris.
After returning home to Argentina, Schifrin formed a jazz orchestra, a 16-piece band that became part of a popular weekly variety show on Buenos Aires TV. Schifrin also began accepting other film, television and radio assignments. In 1956, Schifrin met Dizzy Gillespie
and offered to write an extended work for Gillespie's big band
. Schifrin completed the work, Gillespiana, in 1958 (it was recorded in 1960). Later that year Schifrin began working as an arranger for Xavier Cugat
's popular dance orchestra.
While in New York
in 1960, Schifrin again met Gillespie, who had by this time disbanded his big band for financial reasons. Gillespie invited Schifrin to fill the vacant piano chair in his quintet
. Schifrin immediately accepted and moved to New York City. Schifrin wrote a second extended composition for Gillespie, The New Continent, which was recorded in 1962. In 1963, MGM, which had Schifrin under contract, offered the composer his first Hollywood film assignment with the African adventure, Rhino!. Schifrin moved to Hollywood late that year. He also radically re-arranged the theme for the popular NBC
-TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
, altering original composer Jerry Goldsmith
's theme to a jazzy melody emphasizing flutes and exotic percussion, which wound up winning the Emmy award for Best TV Theme in 1965.
One of Schifrin's most recognizable and enduring compositions is the theme music for the long-running TV series Mission: Impossible
. It is a distinctive tune written in the uncommon 5/4 time signature.
Schifrin's "Tar Sequence" from his Cool Hand Luke
score (also written in 5/4) was the longtime theme for the Eyewitness News
broadcasts on New York station WABC-TV
and other ABC affiliates, as well as National Nine News
in Australia
. CBS Television used part of the theme of his St. Ives soundtrack for its golf broadcasts in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Schifrin's score for Coogan's Bluff
in 1968 was the beginning of a long association with Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel
. Schifrin's strong jazz blues riffs were evident in Dirty Harry
and, although similar to Bullitt
and Coogan's Bluff, the score for Dirty Harry stood out for the sheer fear it generated when released.
Schifrin's working score for 1973's The Exorcist
was rejected by the film's director, William Friedkin
. Schifrin had written six minutes of difficult and heavy music for the initial film trailer, but audiences were reportedly frightened by the combination of sights and sounds. Warner Bros.
executives told Friedkin to instruct Schifrin to tone it down with softer music, but Friedkin did not relay the message. Schifrin's final score was thrown out into the parking lot. Schifrin reported in an interview that working with Friedkin was one of the most unpleasant experiences in his life.
In the 1998 film Tango, Schifrin returned to the tango music
he had grown familiar with while working as Ástor Piazzolla's pianist in the mid-1950s. He brought traditional tango songs to the film as well as introducing compositions of his own in which tango is fused with jazz elements.
In 1997, the composer founded Aleph Records.
He also wrote the songs for Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.
Schifrin made a cameo appearance in Red Dragon
(2002) as an orchestra conductor.
He is also widely sampled in hip-hop and trip-hop songs, such as Heltah Skeltah
's "Prowl" or Portishead's "Sour Times
". Both songs sample Schifrin's "Danube Incident", one of many themes he composed for specific episodes of the Mission: Impossible TV series.
On April 23, 2007, Lalo Schifrin presented a concert of film music for the Festival du Film Jules Verne Aventures (aka Festival Jules Verne), at Le Grand Rex theatre in Paris, France – Europe's biggest movie theater – that was caught superbly by Festival leaders for a 73 and a half minute CD named "Lalo Schifrin: Le Concert à Paris."
In 2010, a fictionalised account of Lalo Schifrin's creation of the Mission: Impossible tune was featured in a Lipton
TV commercial aired in a number of countries around the world.
.
With Sarah Vaughan
Theme from Mission: Impossible
"Theme from Mission: Impossible" was the theme tune of the TV series Mission: Impossible . The theme was written and composed by Lalo Schifrin and has since gone on to appear in several other works of the Mission: Impossible franchise, including the 1988 TV series, the film series and the video...
". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations. Schifrin, associated with the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music genre, is also noted for work with Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, particularly the Dirty Harry films
Dirty Harry (film series)
Dirty Harry is the name of a series of films and novels starring fictional San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan, portrayed by Clint Eastwood...
.
Biography
Schifrin was born Boris Claudio Schifrin in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
to Jewish parents. His father, Luis Schifrin, led the second violin section of the orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
at the Teatro Colón for three decades. At the age of six, Schifrin began a six-year course of study on piano with Enrique Barenboim, the father of the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
. At age 16, Schifrin began studying piano with the Russian expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
Andreas Karalis, former head of the Kiev Conservatory
Kiev Conservatory
The Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music is a Ukrainian state institution of higher music education. Its courses include postgraduate education.-History:...
, and harmony with Argentine composer Juan Carlos Paz. During this time, Schifrin also became interested in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
Although Schifrin studied sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
, it was music that captured his attention. At age 20, he successfully applied for a scholarship to the Paris Conservatoire. While there, he attended Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
's classes and formally studied with Charles Koechlin
Charles Koechlin
Charles Louis Eugène Koechlin was a French composer, teacher and writer on music. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars , travelling, stereoscopic...
, a disciple of Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
. At night he played jazz in the Paris clubs. In 1955, Schifrin played piano with Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
and represented his country at the International Jazz Festival in Paris.
After returning home to Argentina, Schifrin formed a jazz orchestra, a 16-piece band that became part of a popular weekly variety show on Buenos Aires TV. Schifrin also began accepting other film, television and radio assignments. In 1956, Schifrin met Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and offered to write an extended work for Gillespie's big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
. Schifrin completed the work, Gillespiana, in 1958 (it was recorded in 1960). Later that year Schifrin began working as an arranger for Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
's popular dance orchestra.
While in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1960, Schifrin again met Gillespie, who had by this time disbanded his big band for financial reasons. Gillespie invited Schifrin to fill the vacant piano chair in his quintet
Quintet
A quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
. Schifrin immediately accepted and moved to New York City. Schifrin wrote a second extended composition for Gillespie, The New Continent, which was recorded in 1962. In 1963, MGM, which had Schifrin under contract, offered the composer his first Hollywood film assignment with the African adventure, Rhino!. Schifrin moved to Hollywood late that year. He also radically re-arranged the theme for the popular NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
, altering original composer Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
's theme to a jazzy melody emphasizing flutes and exotic percussion, which wound up winning the Emmy award for Best TV Theme in 1965.
One of Schifrin's most recognizable and enduring compositions is the theme music for the long-running TV series Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
. It is a distinctive tune written in the uncommon 5/4 time signature.
Schifrin's "Tar Sequence" from his Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
score (also written in 5/4) was the longtime theme for the Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
broadcasts on New York station WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
and other ABC affiliates, as well as National Nine News
National Nine News
Nine News is the news service of the Australian Nine Network.Nine News's flagship bulletin is the nightly 6:00pm localised bulletin, produced by networked owned-and-operated stations in Sydney , Melbourne , Brisbane and Darwin alongside localised bulletins produced by the WIN-owned Nine Network...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. CBS Television used part of the theme of his St. Ives soundtrack for its golf broadcasts in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Schifrin's score for Coogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff (film)
Coogan's Bluff is a 1968 American Universal film directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Don Stroud, and Susan Clark...
in 1968 was the beginning of a long association with Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel
Don Siegel
Donald Siegel was an influential American film director and producer. His name variously appeared in the credits of his films as both Don Siegel and Donald Siegel.-Early life:...
. Schifrin's strong jazz blues riffs were evident in Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
and, although similar to Bullitt
Bullitt
Bullitt is a 1968 American police procedural film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L....
and Coogan's Bluff, the score for Dirty Harry stood out for the sheer fear it generated when released.
Schifrin's working score for 1973's The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
was rejected by the film's director, William Friedkin
William Friedkin
William Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
. Schifrin had written six minutes of difficult and heavy music for the initial film trailer, but audiences were reportedly frightened by the combination of sights and sounds. Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
executives told Friedkin to instruct Schifrin to tone it down with softer music, but Friedkin did not relay the message. Schifrin's final score was thrown out into the parking lot. Schifrin reported in an interview that working with Friedkin was one of the most unpleasant experiences in his life.
In the 1998 film Tango, Schifrin returned to the tango music
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
he had grown familiar with while working as Ástor Piazzolla's pianist in the mid-1950s. He brought traditional tango songs to the film as well as introducing compositions of his own in which tango is fused with jazz elements.
In 1997, the composer founded Aleph Records.
He also wrote the songs for Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.
Schifrin made a cameo appearance in Red Dragon
Red Dragon (film)
Red Dragon is a 2002 thriller film based on Thomas Harris' novel of the same name and featuring psychiatrist and serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. It is a prequel to The Silence of the Lambs....
(2002) as an orchestra conductor.
He is also widely sampled in hip-hop and trip-hop songs, such as Heltah Skeltah
Heltah Skeltah
Heltah Skeltah is a hip hop duo consisting of members Rock and Ruck . The two are members of New York supergroup Boot Camp Clik, along with Buckshot, Smif-N-Wessun and O.G.C....
's "Prowl" or Portishead's "Sour Times
Sour Times
"Sour Times" is a song by English trip hop group Portishead, released as their second-ever single in August 1994. Written by all three members of the band, "Sour Times" features on Portishead's debut album Dummy...
". Both songs sample Schifrin's "Danube Incident", one of many themes he composed for specific episodes of the Mission: Impossible TV series.
On April 23, 2007, Lalo Schifrin presented a concert of film music for the Festival du Film Jules Verne Aventures (aka Festival Jules Verne), at Le Grand Rex theatre in Paris, France – Europe's biggest movie theater – that was caught superbly by Festival leaders for a 73 and a half minute CD named "Lalo Schifrin: Le Concert à Paris."
In 2010, a fictionalised account of Lalo Schifrin's creation of the Mission: Impossible tune was featured in a Lipton
Lipton
Lipton is a brand of tea currently owned by Unilever.-History of Lipton Tea:Lipton was created at the end of the 19th century by a grocer, Sir Thomas Lipton, in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1893, he established the Thomas J. Lipton Co., a tea packing company with its headquarters and factory in Hobo ken,...
TV commercial aired in a number of countries around the world.
Awards
To date, Lalo Schifrin has won four Grammy Awards (with twenty-one nominations), one Cable ACE Award, and received six Oscar nominations, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.
Solo albums
- 1962: Piano Strings And Bossa Nova (MGM RecordsMGM RecordsMGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
) - 1962: Bossa Nova (Audio Fidelity)
- 1963: Samba Para Dos (Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) (with Bob BrookmeyerBob BrookmeyerRobert Brookmeyer is an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer.-Biography:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre...
) - 1964: New Fantasy (Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) - 1966: The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music From the Past as Performed By the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to the Memory of the Marquis De SadeThe Dissection and Reconstruction of Music From the Past as Performed By the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to the Memory of the Marquis De SadeThe Dissection and Reconstruction of Music From the Past as Performed By the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to the Memory of the Marquis De Sade is a 1966 studio album by Lalo Schifrin.-Reception:...
(Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) - 1968: There's A Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin' On (Dot RecordsDot RecordsDot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
) - 1971: Rock Requiem (Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) - 1976: Black Widow (CTI RecordsCTI RecordsCTI Records was a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, but the label went independent in 1970...
) - 1977: Towering Toccata (CTI RecordsCTI RecordsCTI Records was a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, but the label went independent in 1970...
) - 1978: Gypsies (Tabu RecordsTabu RecordsTabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. The label focused on R&B and funk.-Founding:Avant founded the label after Sussex Records went out of business in June 1975. Tabu's flagship release, “Stormin'” by Brainstorm, was released in 1977...
) - 1979: No One Home (Tabu RecordsTabu RecordsTabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. The label focused on R&B and funk.-Founding:Avant founded the label after Sussex Records went out of business in June 1975. Tabu's flagship release, “Stormin'” by Brainstorm, was released in 1977...
) - 1982: Ins And Outs (Palo Alto RecordsPalo Alto RecordsPalo Alto Records was a jazz record label that released most of its discography in the 1980s. The label was founded in 1981 by Jim Benham, who was a Palo Alto, California resident. The artistic director was Herb Wong. In 1985 the company ceased its activities...
)
As sideman
With Dizzy GillespieDizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
- Gillespiana (1960, Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) - An Electrifying Evening with the Dizzy Gillespie QuintetAn Electrifying Evening with the Dizzy Gillespie QuintetAn Electrifying Evening with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet is a 1961 live album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, recorded at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City...
(1961, Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
) - A Musical Safari (1961)
- The New Continent (1962, Limelight RecordsLimelight RecordsLimelight Records was a subsidiary label of Mercury Records. Originally headed by Quincy Jones, its activities were directed by the producer Jack Tracy...
) - New WaveNew Wave (Dizzy Gillespie album)-Track listing:# In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town # Careless Love # Chega de Saudade # Taboo # Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You # One Note Samba # Manhã de Carnaval# Pergunte ao Joao-Personnel:* Tracks 1, 2, 5:Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet...
(1963, Philips RecordsPhilips RecordsPhilips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
)
With Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
- Sweet 'n' SassySweet 'n' SassySweet 'N' Sassy is a 1964 studio album by Sarah Vaughan, arranged by Lalo Schifrin.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr awarded the album three stars and said that "Surrounded by strings and syrupy arrangements, Vaughan brings her lovely voice to bear on a dozen standards...The...
(1963 Roulette RecordsRoulette RecordsRoulette Records is an American record label, which was founded in late 1956, by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed as director...
)
Film scores
- 1964: Rhino!
- 1965: The Cincinnati KidThe Cincinnati KidThe Cincinnati Kid is a 1965 American drama film. It tells the story of Eric "The Kid" Stoner, a young Depression-era poker player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best...
- 1965: The LiquidatorThe Liquidator (film)The Liquidator is a 1965 MGM film starring Rod Taylor as Brian "Boysie" Oakes, Trevor Howard as his Intelligence Chief Mostyn and Jill St. John as Mostyn's secretary Iris MacIntosh. It was based on the first of a series of Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner, The Liquidator.-Plot:The film follows...
- 1965: Once a ThiefOnce a Thief (1965 film)Once a Thief is a 1965 film directed by Ralph Nelson. It was written by Zekial Marko, based on his novel Scratch A Thief. Nelson won the OCIC award at the 1965 San Sebastián International Film Festival for the film.-Plot:...
- 1966: Murderers' RowMurderers' Row (film)Murderers' Row is a 1966 American comedy-spy-fi film starring Dean Martin and very loosely based upon the Matt Helm spy novel Murderers' Row by Donald Hamilton, which was published in 1962....
- 1967: The Fox
- 1967: The President's AnalystThe President's AnalystThe President's Analyst is a 1967 satirical comedy film written and directed by Theodore J. Flicker, starring James Coburn. The widescreen cinematography was by William A. Fraker, and Lalo Schifrin provided the film's musical score...
- 1967: Cool Hand LukeCool Hand LukeCool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
- 1968: BullittBullittBullitt is a 1968 American police procedural film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L....
- 1968: The BrotherhoodThe Brotherhood (1968 film)The Brotherhood is a 1968 crime drama film, directed by Martin Ritt. It stars Kirk Douglas, Irene Papas, Alex Cord, and Luther Adler. The script was by Lewis John Carlino....
- 1968: Hell in the PacificHell in the PacificHell in the Pacific is a 1968 World War II film starring Lee Marvin and Toshirō Mifune, the only two actors in the entire film. It was directed by John Boorman....
- 1968: Coogan's BluffCoogan's Bluff (film)Coogan's Bluff is a 1968 American Universal film directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Don Stroud, and Susan Clark...
- 1968: Where Angels Go, Trouble FollowsWhere Angels Go, Trouble FollowsWhere Angels Go, Trouble Follows is a movie comedy starring Rosalind Russell and Stella Stevens. The film is a sequel to The Trouble with Angels and was written by Blanche Hanalis from a story by Jane Trahey, and directed by James Neilson....
- 1969: Che!Che!Che! is an American Biographical film starring Omar Sharif as Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. It follows Guevara from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in Bolivia in 1967, although the film does not portray the formative pre-Cuban revolution sections of Che's life as...
- 1970: Kelly's HeroesKelly's HeroesKelly's Heroes is an offbeat 1970 comedy/war film about a group of World War II soldiers who go AWOL to rob a bank behind enemy lines. Directed by Brian G...
- 1970: WUSAWUSA (film)WUSA is a 1970 drama film, directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It was written by Robert Stone, based on his novel A Hall of Mirrors. The story involves a radio station in New Orleans with the eponymous call sign which is apparently involved in a so-called "right-wing conspiracy". It culminates with a...
- 1971: THX 1138THX 1138THX 1138 is a 1971 science fiction film directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. The film is based on a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch...
- 1971: The BeguiledThe BeguiledThe Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
- 1971: Dirty HarryDirty HarryDirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
- 1971: The Hellstrom ChronicleThe Hellstrom ChronicleThe Hellstrom Chronicle is an American film released in 1971 which combines elements of documentary and science fiction to present a gripping depiction of the Darwinian struggle for survival between humans and insects. It was conceived and produced by David L...
- 1971: Pretty Maids All in a RowPretty Maids All in a RowPretty Maids All in a Row is an American mystery film starring Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinson that is part dark comedy, part murder mystery. It was released on April 28, 1971, directed by Roger Vadim, and written and produced by Gene Roddenberry based on a novel by Francis Pollini.Pretty Maids was...
- 1972: Prime CutPrime CutPrime Cut is a 1972 American film produced by Joe Wizan and directed by Michael Ritchie, with a screenplay written by Robert Dillon. The movie stars Lee Marvin as a mob enforcer from Chicago sent to Kansas to collect a debt from a meatpacker boss played by Gene Hackman...
- 1972: Joe KiddJoe KiddJoe Kidd is a 1972 American western film starring Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall, written by Elmore Leonard and directed by John Sturges....
- 1972: RageRage (1972 film)Rage is a 1972 film starring George C. Scott, Richard Basehart, Martin Sheen and Barnard Hughes. Scott also directed this drama about a sheep rancher who is fatally exposed to a military lab's poison gas....
- 1972: The Wrath of GodThe Wrath of GodThe Wrath of God is an offbeat Western genre film released in 1972. It starred Robert Mitchum, Frank Langella, Rita Hayworth and Victor Buono and was directed by Ralph Nelson....
- 1973: Magnum ForceMagnum ForceMagnum Force is a 1973 American police thriller film and the second to feature Clint Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan after the 1971 film Dirty Harry. Ted Post, who also directed Eastwood in TV's Rawhide and the feature film Hang 'Em High, directed the second film in the Dirty Harry series...
- 1973: Enter the DragonEnter the DragonEnter the Dragon is a 1973 Hong Kong martial arts co-production with Golden Harvest and Warner Bros. studios, directed by Robert Clouse; starring Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly and John Saxon. This is Bruce Lee's final film appearance before his death on July 20, 1973...
- 1973: Charley VarrickCharley VarrickCharley Varrick is a 1973 crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. The film was based on the novel The Looters by John H. Reese.-Plot:...
- 1973: Harry in Your PocketHarry in Your PocketHarry in Your Pocket is a 1973 film, written by James Buchanan and Ronald Austin and directed by Bruce Geller, starring James Coburn, Michael Sarrazin, Trish Van Devere and Walter Pidgeon....
- 1973: Hit!Hit!Hit! is a 1973 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor. It is about a federal agent trying to destroy a drug zone after his daughter dies from a heroin overdose.-Cast:*Billy Dee Williams - Nick Allen...
- 1974: The Four MusketeersThe Four Musketeers (film)The Four Musketeers is a 1974 Richard Lester film that follows upon his film of the year before, The Three Musketeers, and covers the second half of Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers...
- 1976: The Eagle Has LandedThe Eagle Has Landed (film)The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. It was directed by John Sturges and starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall...
- 1976: Voyage of the DamnedVoyage of the DamnedVoyage of the Damned is the title of a 1974 book written by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, which was the basis of a 1976 drama film with the same title.The story was inspired by true events concerning the fate of the MS St...
- 1977: Rollercoaster
- 1977: Telefon
- 1978: Return from Witch MountainReturn from Witch MountainReturn from Witch Mountain is the 1978 sequel to Walt Disney Productions' 1975 film, Escape to Witch Mountain. It was written by Malcolm Marmorstein and is based on the novel by Alexander Key. Ike Eisenmann, Kim Richards, and Denver Pyle reprise their roles as Tony, Tia, and Uncle Bené—humanoid...
- 1978: The Cat from Outer SpaceThe Cat from Outer SpaceThe Cat from Outer Space is a 1978 Disney film, starring Ronnie Schell, Ken Berry, Sandy Duncan, Harry Morgan, Roddy McDowall and McLean Stevenson.-Plot:...
- 1978: The ManitouThe ManitouThe Manitou is an American horror movie from 1978 with Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg, based on a 1975 book by Graham Masterton. The movie is based on an old legend about the Native American spirit-concept Manitou.-Plot:...
- 1979: The Amityville HorrorThe Amityville Horror (1979 film)The Amityville Horror is a 1979 American horror film based on the bestselling 1977 novel of the same name by Jay Anson. It is the first movie in the Amityville Horror franchise....
- 1979: Escape to AthenaEscape to AthenaEscape to Athena is a British adventure war film released in 1979, directed by George Pan Cosmatos and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. The international cast included many well-known actors of the 1970s, including Roger Moore, Telly Savalas and Elliott Gould.The film is set during the...
- 1979: The Concorde ... Airport '79
- 1979: Boulevard NightsBoulevard Nights-Plot:Boulevard Nights is a focus on life in a gang. The movie portrays the dangers of street violence. Richard Yniguez plays a young Chicano who tries to get out of the gang, but he keeps finding himself drawn back into it. Boulevard Nights is all about brotherhood and survival.-Taglines:Two...
- 1979: Love and BulletsLove and Bullets (1979 film)Love and Bullets is a 1979 film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Starring Charles Bronson in a leading role, it is based on a screenplay by Wendell Mayes and John Melson. The film was originally to have been directed by John Huston and advertisements were taken out in Variety to promote this fact...
- 1980: BrubakerBrubakerBrubaker is an American 1980 film about a prison in distress and the Warden Henry Brubaker who attempts to reform the system....
- 1980: The Big BrawlThe Big BrawlThe Big Brawl, also known as Battle Creek Brawl, is a 1980 martial arts film which marked Jackie Chan's first attempt to break into the American movie market...
- 1980: When Time Ran OutWhen Time Ran OutWhen Time Ran Out... is a disaster film released in 1980, starring Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, James Franciscus, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Burgess Meredith, Valentina Cortese, Veronica Hamel, Pat Morita, Edward Albert, and Barbara Carrera.Produced by the "Master of...
- 1980: The CompetitionThe Competition (film)The Competition is a 1980 American drama film starring Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving, directed by Joel Oliansky.-Plot:Paul Dietrich is an extremely gifted but disillusioned classical pianist, running out of time to prove himself...
- 1980: SerialSerial (1980 film)Serial is a comedy film from 1980 produced by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay, by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, is drawn from the novel The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County by Cyra McFadden, published in 1977...
- 1980: The Nude BombThe Nude BombThe Nude Bomb is a 1980 comedy film based on the television series Get Smart. It starred Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed by Clive Donner...
- 1981: CavemanCaveman (film)Caveman is a 1981 American slapstick comedy film written and directed by Carl Gottlieb and starring Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long and Barbara Bach.-Plot:...
- 1981: LoopholeLoophole (1981 film)Loophole is a 1981 British heist film, directed by John Quested, and starring Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, Susannah York, Jonathan Pryce, Colin Blakely and Tony Doyle. It was written by Jonathan Hales, based upon the novel by Robert Pollock...
- 1982: Amityville II: The PossessionAmityville II: The PossessionAmityville II: The Possession is a 1982 horror film directed by Damiano Damiani. The screenplay by Tommy Lee Wallace is based on the novel Murder in Amityville by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. It is a prequel to The Amityville Horror, set at 112 Ocean Avenue and featuring the fictional Montelli...
- 1982: The SeductionThe Seduction (1982 film)The Seduction is a 1982 thriller film starring Morgan Fairchild and Andrew Stevens, written and directed by David Schmoeller. The original music score was composed by Lalo Schifrin. The film was marketed with the tagline "Alone... frightened.....
- 1983: Sudden ImpactSudden ImpactSudden Impact is a 1983 American crime thriller and the fourth film in the Dirty Harry series, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood...
- 1983: The Osterman WeekendThe Osterman Weekend (film)The Osterman Weekend is a 1983 suspense thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum. The film stars Rutger Hauer, John Hurt, Burt Lancaster, Dennis Hopper, Meg Foster and Craig T. Nelson...
- 1983: Doctor DetroitDoctor DetroitDoctor Detroit is a 1983 comedy film, written by Bruce Jay Friedman, Robert Boris and Carl Gottlieb. The film stars Dan Aykroyd, Howard Hesseman, Lynn Whitfield, Fran Drescher, and Donna Dixon, with a special appearance by James Brown. The film was directed by Michael Pressman.James Brown performed...
- 1983: The Sting IIThe Sting IIThe Sting II is an 1983 film sequel to The Sting. Directed by Jeremy Kagan and written by David S. Ward , it stars Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden and Oliver Reed...
- 1984: TankTank (film)Tank is a 1984 comedy, drama, and action movie starring James Garner, Jenilee Harrison, and C. Thomas Howell. The film was written by Dan Gordon and directed by Marvin J. Chomsky...
- 1985: Bad MedicineBad Medicine (film)Bad Medicine is a 1985 comedy film starring Steve Guttenberg, Alan Arkin, and Julie Hagerty. The film was written and directed by Harvey Miller, and was based on the novel Calling Dr. Horowitz, by Steven Horowitz, MD and Neil Offen....
- 1985: The Mean SeasonThe Mean SeasonThe Mean Season is a 1985 American thriller directed by Phillip Borsos. The film stars Kurt Russell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Jordan, Richard Masur, Joe Pantoliano, and Andy García. The screenplay was written by Leon Piedmont, based on the novel In the Heat of the Summer by John Katzenbach...
- 1986: The Ladies Club
- 1986: Black Moon RisingBlack Moon RisingBlack Moon Rising is an action motion picture made in 1986 directed by Harley Cokeliss, written by John Carpenter and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Hamilton and Robert Vaughn...
- 1987: The Fourth ProtocolThe Fourth Protocol (film)The Fourth Protocol is a 1987 Cold War spy film starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan, based on the novel The Fourth Protocol by Frederick Forsyth.- Plot :The plot centres on a secret 1968 East-West agreement to halt nuclear proliferation...
- 1988: The Dead PoolThe Dead PoolThe Dead Pool is a 1988 American action thriller film about the manipulation of a "dead pool" game by a serial killer, whose efforts are foiled by a hardened detective. It is the fifth and final film in the Dirty Harry series, set in San Francisco, California and starring Clint Eastwood as...
- 1989: Return From the River KwaiReturn from the River KwaiReturn from the River Kwai is a 1989 film directed by Andrew McLaglen. It stars Timothy Bottoms and Nick Tate.. It is loosely based on events concerning the Burma-Thailand Death Railway and subsequent that inspired the earlier film Bridge on the River Kwai, although both films use separate...
- 1991: F/X2F/X2F/X2 is a 1991 American action thriller film directed by Richard Franklin and starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy. It is a sequel to the 1986 film F/X.-Plot:...
- 1993: The Beverly Hillbillies
- 1996: Scorpion StingScorpion stingScorpion stings are a cutaneous condition caused by the stinging of scorpions, usually resulting in pain, paresthesia, and variable swelling. The anatomical part of the scorpion that delivers the sting is called a "telson".- See also :* Scorpion venom...
- 1997: Money TalksMoney TalksMoney Talks is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, starring Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen.- Plot :Franklin Hatchett is a car wash hustler, who gets dimed out to the police by an investigating news reporter named James Russell When placed on a prison transport unit, he is...
- 1998: Tango
- 1998: Rush Hour
- 1998: Something to Believe InSomething to Believe In (film)Something to Believe In is a 1998 film directed by John Hough....
- 2001: Rush Hour 2Rush Hour 2Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 martial arts action comedy film. This is the second installment in the Rush Hour film series. A sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour, the film stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker who respectively reprise their roles as Inspector Lee and Los Angeles police detective James Carter...
- 2003: Bringing Down the HouseBringing Down the House (film)Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American romantic comedy film, written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman. The film stars Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.-Plot:...
- 2004: The Bridge of San Luis ReyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004 film)The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 2004 drama film directed by Mary McGuckian and featuring an ensemble cast of American and international actors. It is based on Thornton Wilder's novel of the same name. The film was released in 2004 in Spain and 2005 in the U.S. and abroad...
- 2004: After the SunsetAfter the SunsetAfter the Sunset is a 2004 action comedy film starring Pierce Brosnan as Max Burdett, a master thief caught in a cat-and-mouse game with FBI agent Stan Lloyd played by Woody Harrelson...
- 2006: AbominableAbominableAbominable is a 2006 Sci Fi Horror Channel original movie, directed and written by Ryan Schifrin. The film stars Matt McCoy, Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen, Rex Linn, Dee Wallace, Phil Morris, Paul Gleason and . The film features the cryptid Bigfoot as the main antagonist, despite the title. It...
- 2007: Rush Hour 3Rush Hour 3Rush Hour 3 is a 2007 martial arts/action-comedy film, and the third installment in the Rush Hour film series, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, that began with the 1998 film Rush Hour and continued with the first sequel Rush Hour 2 in 2001. The film was officially announced on May 7, 2006,...
Television themes and scores
- 1964: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
- 1965: The Big ValleyThe Big ValleyThe Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
- 1966: T.H.E. Cat
- 1966: Mission: ImpossibleMission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
- 1967: MannixMannixMannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
- 1969: Medical CenterMedical Center (TV series)Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976.-Synopsis:The show starred James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon, surgeons working in an otherwise unnamed university hospital in Los Angeles. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors...
- 1974: Planet of the ApesPlanet of the Apes (TV series)Planet of the Apes was a short-lived American science fiction television series that aired on Friday evenings at 8:00 PM Eastern/7:00 PM Central on CBS in 1974. The series starred Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, and James Naughton, Mark Lenard and Booth Colman...
- 1975: Starsky and HutchStarsky and HutchStarsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
- 1976: Most WantedMost Wanted (TV series)Most Wanted is an American crime drama series shown on ABC from October 16, 1976 until August 20, 1977. It starred Robert Stack, Jo Ann Harris, Shelly Novack, and Hari Rhodes...
- 1982: Chicago Story
- 1984: GlitterGlitter (TV series)Glitter was an American television drama series screened on the ABC network during the 1984-1985 season.The series was produced by Aaron Spelling and was set behind the scenes of a top entertainment magazine titled "Glitter" and attempted to combine the urgency of journalism and business politics...
- 1987: Sparky's Magic PianoSparky's Magic PianoSparky's Magic Piano is the second in a series of children’s audio stories featuring Sparky, an original character created for Capitol Records in 1947. Sparky is a little boy with an overactive imagination...
External links
- Lalo Schifrin's official website
- Cinema Retro attends Lalo Schifrin's London concert
- Aleph Records Discography - record label operated by Schifrin
- Two Interviews with Lalo Schifrin by Bruce Duffie (June 23, 1988, and October 9, 2003)
- On Music and Cinema An Interview with Lalo Schifrin by Jaime Perales Contreras May 2011 (In Spanish).