Television has yet to work out a living arrangement with jazz, which comes to the medium more as an uneasy guest than as a relaxed member of the family.

There seems to be an unfortunate assumption that an hour of Chicago style jazz in prime evening time, for example, could not be justified without the trimmings of a portentous documentary. At least this seemed to be the working hypothesis for ``Chicago and All That Jazz,'' presented on NBC -- TV Nov. 26.

The program came out of the NBC Special Projects department, and was slotted in the Du Pont Show of the Week series. Perhaps Special Projects necessarily thinks along documentary lines. If so, it might be worth while to assign a future jazz show to a different department -- one with enough confidence in the musical material to cut down on the number of performers and give them a little room to display their talents.

As a matter of fact, this latter approach has already been tried, and with pleasing results. A few years ago a ``Timex All Star Jazz Show'' offered a broad range of styles, ranging from Lionel Hampton's big band to the free-wheeling Dukes of Dixieland. An enthusiastic audience confirmed the ``live'' character of the hour, and provided the interaction between musician and hearer which almost always seems to improve the quality of performance.

About that same time John Crosby's TV series on the popular arts proved again that giving jazz ample breathing space is one of the most sensible things a producer can do. In an hour remembered for its almost rudderless movement, a score of jazz luminaries went before the cameras for lengthy periods. The program had been arranged to permit the establishment of a mood of intense concentration on the music. Cameras stared at soloists' faces in extreme closeups, then considerately pulled back for full views of ensemble work.