![Thanks Wikipedia...
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, "What are we going to do tonight?" I said, "Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth". He also wrote band favorites such as "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as "The New Testament" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements," now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad "Lil' Darlin" and "Splanky." Also on the album were "The Kid from Red Bank" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as "Flight of the Foo Birds" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, "Fantail" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of "Teddy the Toad". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score ("Girl Talk").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 "The Fred Astaire Show" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005](/Other/Arrangers-and-Artists/i-b2q8d95/1/Ti/neal%20hefti%20nyc%20december%201946%20SMUGMUGf-Ti.jpg "Thanks Wikipedia...
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for \"Woodchopper's Ball\" and \"Blowin' Up a Storm,\" and composed \"The Good Earth\" and \"Wild Root.\" After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as \"Li'l Darlin'\" and \"Cute\"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, \"What are we going to do tonight?\" I said, \"Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?\" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: \"Wild Root\" and \"The Good Earth\". He also wrote band favorites such as \"Apple Honey\" and \"Blowin' Up a Storm\".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as \"The New Testament\" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled \"E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements,\" now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad \"Lil' Darlin\" and \"Splanky.\" Also on the album were \"The Kid from Red Bank\" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as \"Flight of the Foo Birds\" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, \"Fantail\" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of \"Teddy the Toad\". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score (\"Girl Talk\").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 \"The Fred Astaire Show\" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005")
Thanks Wikipedia...
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, "What are we going to do tonight?" I said, "Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth". He also wrote band favorites such as "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as "The New Testament" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements," now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad "Lil' Darlin" and "Splanky." Also on the album were "The Kid from Red Bank" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as "Flight of the Foo Birds" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, "Fantail" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of "Teddy the Toad". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score ("Girl Talk").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 "The Fred Astaire Show" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, "What are we going to do tonight?" I said, "Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth". He also wrote band favorites such as "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as "The New Testament" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements," now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad "Lil' Darlin" and "Splanky." Also on the album were "The Kid from Red Bank" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as "Flight of the Foo Birds" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, "Fantail" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of "Teddy the Toad". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score ("Girl Talk").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 "The Fred Astaire Show" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005
![Thanks Wikipedia...
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, "What are we going to do tonight?" I said, "Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth". He also wrote band favorites such as "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as "The New Testament" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements," now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad "Lil' Darlin" and "Splanky." Also on the album were "The Kid from Red Bank" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as "Flight of the Foo Birds" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, "Fantail" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of "Teddy the Toad". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score ("Girl Talk").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 "The Fred Astaire Show" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005](/Other/Arrangers-and-Artists/i-b2q8d95/1/L/neal%20hefti%20nyc%20december%201946%20SMUGMUGf-L.jpg "Thanks Wikipedia...
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for \"Woodchopper's Ball\" and \"Blowin' Up a Storm,\" and composed \"The Good Earth\" and \"Wild Root.\" After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as \"Li'l Darlin'\" and \"Cute\"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, \"What are we going to do tonight?\" I said, \"Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?\" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: \"Wild Root\" and \"The Good Earth\". He also wrote band favorites such as \"Apple Honey\" and \"Blowin' Up a Storm\".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as \"The New Testament\" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled \"E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements,\" now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad \"Lil' Darlin\" and \"Splanky.\" Also on the album were \"The Kid from Red Bank\" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as \"Flight of the Foo Birds\" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, \"Fantail\" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of \"Teddy the Toad\". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score (\"Girl Talk\").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 \"The Fred Astaire Show\" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005")
Thanks Wikipedia...
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, "What are we going to do tonight?" I said, "Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth". He also wrote band favorites such as "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as "The New Testament" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements," now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad "Lil' Darlin" and "Splanky." Also on the album were "The Kid from Red Bank" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as "Flight of the Foo Birds" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, "Fantail" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of "Teddy the Toad". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score ("Girl Talk").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 "The Fred Astaire Show" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005
Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He composed the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and scored the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series also titled The Odd Couple.
He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute"
Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.
Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:
We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, "What are we going to do tonight?" I said, "Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.[1].
After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of Skyliner.
During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.
After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band.
During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth". He also wrote band favorites such as "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm".
In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as "The New Testament" band.
One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled Basie and subtitled "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements," now more commonly referred to as Atomic Basie, an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad "Lil' Darlin" and "Splanky." Also on the album were "The Kid from Red Bank" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as "Flight of the Foo Birds" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, "Fantail" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of "Teddy the Toad". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.
In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.
Grammy nominations
Nomination for Jazz Pops (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.
Two awards for Basie, aka Atomic Basie (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.
Three nominations (one award) for the Batman TV score.
Two nominations for the Harlow movie score ("Girl Talk").
Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 "The Fred Astaire Show" as conductor
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
Jazz Wall of Fame 2005
See photo in original gallery.