JAZZ LUMINARIES LIGHT UP THE TUBE - VINTAGE VIDEO OF DIZZY GILLESPIE & LALO SCHRIFFRIN - CIRCA LATE 1950'S

It is a rare circumstance in which a simple television show can derive its energy from a confluence of stars. But in a non-descript New York, television studio ,on unspecified date at the cusp of JFK's Camelot,a small, but dynamic collection of musicians made eclectic,expressive music.

While the origin of this vintage video is unclear, the pedigree is pure Jazz. The clip features the incomparable Dizzy Gillespie performing with the prolific composer Lalo Schriffin on what appears to be a classic episode of NBC's vibrant , B&W examination of the truly American, musical art form, called THIS IS JAZZ.

Schriffin's legacy on the silver and small screens is, both, impressive and imposing. On television, he scored the emphatic, exotic notes that ignited every installment of CBS's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and the elegant jazz waltz that heralded the daring adventures of CBS's MANNIX. Schiffrin also penned the tense,sparse strains of the 1966 film, COOL HAND LUKE, that went on to become the signature for EYEWITNESS NEWS on the ABC Owned & Operated Television Stations.


Philadelphia's John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie all but wrote the genetic code for the brassy alloy of African, Latin and Caribbean rhythms that achieved jazz primacy in the 1950's, called BE-BOP.
In the Scholastic Aptitude Test of American culture,Gillespie is to jazz ,as William Paley is to television : a founding father.

This electrifying performance is from the ALDOSOUNDS68 site on YOU TUBE and the mystery of its origin is as seductive as the visceral allure of the music it showcases. Enjoy!!!!!!






As a bonus, here is an April 24, 2006 recording of Lalo Schriffrin performing his pulsating theme to Mission Impossible in the UK with the BBC Big Band. Enjoy!!!!!