Lalo Schifrin

MISSION: UNLIKELY

I wish I could say I had an in-depth meeting with Lalo Schifrin, the composer of the Mission: Impossible theme (and also of scores to Dirty Harry, Enter the Dragon, and Rush Hour, among many others). But I didn't. Growing up, I was always a big fan of top action movie film composers John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, and Schifrin.

When I became an adult (some would say in age only), I continued my interest in Schifrin's music, discovering his versatility: he composed classical pieces, was renowned in the jazz world (having come to America from Argentina as part of Dizzy Gillespie's band), and had composed sweeping romantic themes quite different from the funky urban rhythms of "Dirty Harry's Theme."

In 2002, a colleague of mine pointed to an ad in the Village Voice, announcing that Schifrin would be playing music with a jazz ensemble at the Blue Note in Greenwich Village. I persuaded my girflfriend to go – she hated jazz, which may be one reason we're no longer together –and down we went. The music was loud, the cover charge outrageous, but Schifrin did play "Mannix," and it was great to see him live at the piano keyboards. Boy, could his fingers move! Afterwards, I stopped him on his way out – as many in the room had done – and he graciously posed for a photograph with me.

The following year, he returned to the Blue Note for an encore performance. This time, I went with a childhood friend (and fellow Schifrin devotee) Alan Saly and my then-current girlfriend (she liked jazz, so that isn't why we broke up). The music was exciting (and still loud), he played "Gillespiana," his tribute to Dizzy, and he was still great at the keyboards. After the show, I stopped him again; he autographed the picture of us from the previous year (and I wished him a happy 70th birthday), and I asked him if he would pose for another picture, this time with my girlfriend and me. Again, he graciously said yes. We posed. And the camera didn't work.

"Try it again," I said to Alan, as we all got in our poses, with frozen smiles. Once more, with feeling. Nothing. I felt terrible. I apologized to Schifrin, who was becoming politely impatient, and then said, "Let's try it again." Nothing. The camera was blinking. The battery was dead. I thanked Schifrin, he smiled tightly – "What an idiot," he must have been thinking – and moved on. Dead battery. Mission: Impossible. Right. More like Mission: Moronic.

November 2008