Schifrin Makes Musical Opposites Attract : Glendale Symphony director fuses Gillespie and Ellington against an orchestral backdrop for a sound all its own.

For most of his musical life, pianist-composer Lalo Schifrin, who has played with Dizzy Gillespie and written soundtracks for such films as “Dirty Harry” and “The Beverly Hillbillies,” says he’s felt like a fish out of water.

“I grew up in classical music,” says the 61-year-old native of Buenos Aires, whose father was a symphony musician. “But at age 13, I discovered jazz--Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie--and I became a convert. Later, I studied in Paris with Olivier Messiaen by day, and by night I played in a jazz group with Belgian saxophonist Bobby Jaspar. I felt comfortable with both worlds, but they were never interested in each other.”

Now, with “Jazz Meets the Symphony,” a recent recording on Atlantic Records that melds a piano trio with the London Philharmonic, Schifrin is finally able to synthesize in a single album these two musical forces that have dominated his career.

“I feel myself after all these years,” Schifrin says with a gentle smile over lunch in a West Hollywood restaurant. “The album is autobiographical in that I was putting all the things I know together in an organic way.”

“Jazz Meets the Symphony” features Schifrin (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Grady Tate (drums). Schifrin says he used great care to ensure that the project succeeded artistically.

“Mixing jazz and classical music is dangerous,” he begins. “It can be very pompous, very intellectual. But I thought the orchestra colors and atmosphere could inspire the jazz soloists, give a different kind of impulse. And the jazz idiom would make a symphony orchestra play in a different way. And it worked .”

The album investigates a range of relationships between the jazz and classical realms. There are pieces designed strictly for trio improvisations against an orchestral backdrop, such as “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “As Time Goes By.” Other works, particularly “Echoes of Ellington” and “Dizzy Gillespie Fireworks,” are suites that highlight extensive involvement by the Philharmonic.

“Echoes of Ellington,” the most far-reaching work, weaves in and out of melodies--”I Got It Bad” becomes “Do Nuthin’ Till You Hear From Me,” which then becomes “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” “At some points I juxtaposed four or five tunes simultaneously. That was fun,” says Schifrin, who, while performing with Gillespie in the early ‘60s, was on a tour that included the Ellington band.

“Gillespie” is somewhat tamer, much more a trio showcase as Schifrin’s easy-on-the-ear soloing is heard on “A Night in Tunisia,” then the lyrical “Con Alma.”

Schifrin will perform “Jazz Meets the Symphony” Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. From the piano he will conduct the 96-member Glendale Symphony, of which he has been musical director for six years. Drummer Tate will be on hand, though bassist John Clayton fills in for Brown. Guest trumpeter Jon Faddis will also appear. Information: (818) 500-8720.

A Trio of a Different Kind: Organist Joey DeFrancesco, whose “Live at the Five Spot” Columbia album has been on the Billboard magazine jazz charts for many weeks, has formed a trio with guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Dennis Chambers. Called the Free Spirits, the threesome has toured Europe and will head to Japan next month. There, the band plans to record a live album for Verve Records, which will be released next year.

Critic’s Choice: Joshua Redman, the exceedingly inventive, fluid-lined tenor saxophonist, has that rare ability to touch a listener, to reach in and elicit an emotional response. The 24-year-old arrives Monday for a scant three-nighter at Catalina Bar & Grill, bringing along an all-star quartet that includes guitar whiz Pat Metheny, the exceptional drummer Billy Higgins and the redoubtable bassist Christian McBride, just 22.