Lalo Schifrin: Jazz Meets the Symphony in Munich

With six Oscars and five Grammys to his name, Lalo Schifrin is a veteran Argentine pianist and composer whose music has stretched far beyond his native country's borders. It was at the age of 20 that Schifrin decided to fully focus on music, attending the Conservatoire de Paris and playing in the city's clubs by night, notably alongside his fellow countryman, legendary bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla. He got his big break in jazz while still in his 20s, where he impressed Dizzy Gillespie enough to commission an extended work for his big band. This led to work with Duke Ellington and Schrifin made his name on the American scene before going on to conquer the world of movie scores for several decades. 

Here, he plays a 1994 concert at the Munich Summer Piano Festival alongside the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and notable soloists Ray Brown on double bass, Grady Tate on drums and James Morrison on trumpet, flugelhorn and trombone. A master with a prestigious back catalog already etched into the cannon of modern music, Schrifin delivers a staggering repertoire: tributes to Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk sit next to bluesy takes on Johann Sebastian Bach, original compositions and a rendition of his pop-culture masterpiece, "Mission Impossible."