Hefti, Neal
The importance of Neal Hefti cannot be understated. His work in the worlds of both big band jazz and commercial music have resulted in some of the most iconic sounds in the history of music.
Born in 1922, Hefti took up the trumpet at age 11 and by the end of his high school years was performing with territory bands to help support his family. It was during his time as a member of Woody Herman's First Herd that his skills as an arranger began to shine. Influenced by the burgeoning bebop movement, Hefti's arrangements of "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root" managed to straddle the middle ground between commercially viable and artistically progressive perfectly, and were significant instrumental hits for the band.
Beginning in 1950, Hefti formed a highly fruitful relationship with Count Basie. Serving as one of the chief arrangers for Basie's "New Testament" band, Hefti's charts played a significant role in the development of the new Basie sound of the 1950s. The pinnacle of the Hefti-Basie relationship is the 1958 album "The Atomic Mr. Basie," an album entirely made of Hefti's arrangements that included such classics as "The Kid From Red Bank," "Splanky," "Flight of the Foo Birds" and "Lil' Darlin'."
After moving to California in the 1960s, Hefti became a mainstay arranger for film and television. His composition "Girl Talk" netted him two Grammy nominations; nowadays, however, his theme songs for the television series "The Odd Couple" and "Batman" are easily his best-known and most popular works. Hefti would continue working throughout the 1970s before eventually retiring and passing away in 2008.
ATOMIC BASIE COMPLETE ELEVEN ARRANGEMENT SET
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Eleven Jazz Big Band Arrangements
Jazz Lines Publications and Lush Life Music
AB-1000
$675.00
COUNT BASIE CLASSICS TWELVE ARRANGEMENT SET
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Twelve Jazz Big Band Arrangements
Jazz Lines Publications, Alfred Publishing, Lush Life Music, and Studio Music
CB-1000
$670.00
COUNT BASIE JAZZ LINES PUBLICATIONS SERIES: 2024 REVISED TEN CLASSIC ARRANGEMENT SET
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Ten Jazz Big Band Arrangements
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-1047
$575.00
FRANK SINATRA JAZZ LINES PUBLICATIONS SERIES MEGASET
Recorded by Frank Sinatra
43 Jazz Big Band Arrangements With Vocal
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-1030
$2,099.00
FRANK SINATRA JAZZ LINES PUBLICATIONS SERIES: THIRTEEN ARRANGEMENT SET
Recorded by Frank Sinatra
Thirteen Jazz Big Band Arrangements With Vocal
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-1000
$875.00
(YOU'D) BETTER HAVE FOUR [DOWNLOAD]
Recorded by Harry James
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-7184DL
$75.00
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-8483
$55.00
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-8483DL
$55.00
Recorded by Frank Sinatra
Jazz Big Band Arrangement with Vocal
Lush Life Music
LL-2177
$65.00
Recorded by the Harry James Orchestra
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-8717DL
$75.00
Recorded by Harry James
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-8720DL
$75.00
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-7614
$75.00
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-7614DL
$75.00
Recorded by Harry James
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-8736DL
$75.00
Recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-8061DL
$75.00
Recorded by Count Basie
Jazz Big Band Arrangement
Jazz Lines Publications
JLP-7706DL
$75.00