Neal Hefti facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Neal Hefti
Background information
Birth name	Neal Paul Hefti
Born	(1922-10-29)October 29, 1922 Hastings, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	October 11, 2008(2008-10-11) (aged 85) Toluca Lake, California, U.S.
Genres	Swing
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, arranger
Instruments	Trumpet

Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz musician. He was a talented trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He is best known for writing the famous music for The Odd Couple movie and TV show. He also created the well-known theme song for the Batman TV series.

Neal Hefti started writing music professionally when he was a teenager. He wrote songs for bands like Nat Towles and Woody Herman. Later, he focused only on writing music and worked closely with Count Basie's band. Sometimes, Hefti also led his own bands.

Early Life and Musical Start

Neal Paul Hefti was born on October 29, 1922, in Hastings, Nebraska, USA. His family was not wealthy. He even remembered them needing help from charities when he was a young child.

He started playing the trumpet in school when he was eleven. By high school, he spent his summer breaks playing in local "territory bands." These bands traveled around to perform. Playing music helped his family earn money.

Discovering Jazz in Omaha

Growing up near Omaha, Hefti heard many great bands. He saw famous jazz trumpeters from the Southwest. He also saw skilled jazz musicians from New York who visited Omaha. His early musical heroes came from the jazz scene in North Omaha.

Hefti said he was impressed by Harry Edison, Buck Clayton, and Dizzy Gillespie. He saw them play live. He thought Edison and Gillespie were the most unique trumpet players he heard. Seeing Gillespie and Count Basie play in Omaha was important. It showed him what he would later do in New York and with Basie's band.

First Steps in Arranging Music

In 1939, while still in high school, Hefti began his music career. He wrote arrangements for local bands like the Nat Towles band. An arrangement is when a composer takes a song and writes out parts for each instrument in a band. Hefti's first arrangements for the band included "Swingin' On Lennox Avenue" and "More Than You Know." He also wrote a popular arrangement of "Anchors Aweigh." Some of his high school music was even used by the Earl Hines band.

In 1941, just before graduating high school, he got an offer to tour with the Dick Barry band. He traveled with them to New Jersey. However, he was quickly fired after two shows. He couldn't read music well enough on the spot. He was stuck in New Jersey without money to go home. So, he joined Bob Astor's band.

Shelly Manne, the drummer in Bob Astor's band, remembered Hefti's amazing writing skills. Hefti could write out music for each instrument without needing a full score first. He would just hum the parts and write them down.

During World War II, Hefti was not able to join the military. He had broken his pelvis after being hit by a car in New York. For a few years, he focused on playing the trumpet rather than arranging.

Playing in New York and California

After his injury, Hefti stayed in New York for a while. He played with Bobby Byrne in late 1942. Then, he joined Charlie Barnet's band. For Barnet, he wrote the famous arrangement of "Skyliner."

While in New York, he spent time at clubs on 52nd Street. He listened to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians. He learned a lot about this new style of music. Since he didn't have money to enter the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen. There, he got to know many great bebop musicians.

Hefti then left New York to play with the Les Lieber rhumba band in Cuba. When he returned in 1943, he joined the Charlie Spivak band. This led him to California for the first time to make a band movie. Hefti loved California. After the movie in Los Angeles, he left the Spivak band to stay there.

Joining Woody Herman's First Herd

Neal Hefti, New York, around December 1946

Musicians at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, around March 1947. From left: Eddie Sauter, Edwin Finckel, George Handy, Johnny Richards, Neal Hefti, and Ralph Burns.

In 1944, after playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles, Hefti met Woody Herman. Herman was also in California making a band movie. Hefti then joined Herman's "First Herd" band as a trumpeter. This band was different from any he had played with before. He called it his first experience with a real jazz band.

Hefti said he truly got into jazz when he joined Herman's band. The musicians in that band carried jazz records with them, like those by Duke Ellington. This was the first time he felt connected to jazz music.

Developing the Bebop Sound

The First Herd was one of the first big bands to use bebop ideas. Hefti was key to this. He used what he learned in New York from Gillespie. Chubby Jackson, the bassist for First Herd, said Hefti started writing music with bebop sounds. He said their band was one of the first, besides Dizzy Gillespie's, to add bebop to big band music.

During his time with Herman's band, Hefti focused more on writing music. He became very good at it quickly. He composed and arranged some of the band's most popular songs. These included "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth." He also wrote "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm." His experience with Dizzy Gillespie in New York became a valuable resource for the whole band.

His bebop compositions also caught the attention of other composers. Even the famous classical composer Igor Stravinsky was interested. Stravinsky later wrote "Ebony Concerto" for Herman's band. Hefti's work was successful because it combined many different musical ideas. As a composer, arranger, and band member, he helped the Herman band become popular and master the big band bebop style.

Working as a Freelance Arranger

While playing with the First Herd, Neal Hefti married Frances Wayne, who was Herman's singer. Hefti enjoyed playing with the band very much. This made it hard for him to leave, but he wanted to focus on arranging and composing full-time.

The Heftis left Woody Herman's band in late 1946. Neal then started working as a freelance arranger. This meant he wrote music for many different bands. He wrote for Buddy Rich's band and Billy Butterfield's band. He also wrote for George Auld's band, including the song "Mo Mo." He joined the Charlie Ventura band as both a player and an arranger. He arranged popular songs like "How High the Moon." He also arranged music for Harry James's bands in the late 1940s.

One special moment from this time was recording his Cuban-inspired song "Repetition." It was for a collection called The Jazz Scene, which featured top jazz artists. Hefti had written the song without a specific soloist in mind. But Charlie Parker, a famous saxophonist, was in the studio. He heard the music and asked to play a solo. The producer, Norman Granz, said that Parker's playing fit perfectly with Hefti's flexible arrangement.

The Count Basie Years

In 1950, Hefti began arranging for Count Basie's band. This band became known as "The New Testament" band. Basie wanted a band that could perform on TV shows like The Ed Sullivan Show. Hefti's well-made arrangements gave the band a new, tighter sound. This sound lasted for over twenty years.

Count Basie remembered their first meeting. Hefti brought songs like "Little Pony," "Sure Thing," "Why Not?," and "Fawncy Meeting You." Basie said, "we ran them down, and that's how we got married." Hefti's songs and arrangements gave Basie's orchestra its modern sound. Both the band and the audience loved his work. Basie said Hefti had something on every one of their first albums.

The Atomic Mr. Basie Album

The Atomic Mr. Basie was one of Basie's most successful albums in the 1950s. It had eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti. These included the ballad "Li'l Darlin'" and "Splanky," which are now jazz classics. The album also featured "The Kid from Red Bank" with Basie's simple piano solo. Other favorites were "Flight of the Foo Birds" and "Fantail." These songs showed Hefti's great skill and the strong musicianship of Basie's band.

During the 1950s, Hefti was more respected as a composer and arranger than as a band leader. Miles Davis once said that Basie's band sounded great because of Hefti. But he also said Hefti's own band couldn't play those same arrangements as well. This wasn't a criticism of Hefti's playing. It showed how good Hefti was at writing music that perfectly fit Basie's band members.

Hefti won two Grammy awards for his work on Atomic Basie. This included songs like "Li'l Darlin'," "Splanky," and "Teddy the Toad." The album was so popular that Basie and Hefti made another album six months later. Basie said, "All the tunes were very musical. That's the way Neal's things were."

Heftis influence on Basie's sound was so strong that Basie used him even when recording with Frank Sinatra. Hefti arranged standard jazz songs for Sinatra, keeping Basie's band in mind. Basie said Hefti matched the arrangements to his band's unique abilities. This helped highlight their best talents.

Basie was very impressed with Hefti's arrangements. He said Hefti did "marvelous things" for the band. He felt Hefti's work brought a "different sound" that was "quite musical."

Later Career in Film and Television

Outside of his work for Basie, Hefti led his own big band in the 1950s. In 1951, his wife, Frances Wayne, sang with one of these bands. They recorded and toured off and on. While his own band wasn't as famous as the ones he arranged for, he did get a Grammy nomination for his album Jazz Pops (1962). This album included recordings of "Li'l Darlin'," "Cute," and "Coral Reef."

Later in the 1950s, he stopped playing the trumpet completely. He wanted to focus on writing and conducting music. He often conducted big bands, helped singers in recording studios, and appeared on TV shows. He worked with Della Reese to arrange 12 songs for her 1960 album Della, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Hollywood Success

Hefti moved back to Los Angeles in 1960. Around this time, he started working in Hollywood, writing music for movies and TV. He became very successful. He wrote background music and theme songs for many films. These included How to Murder Your Wife (1965), Boeing Boeing (1965), Barefoot in the Park (1967), and The Odd Couple (1968). He also wrote for Harlow (1965), earning two Grammy nominations for the song "Girl Talk." Even though he wrote for movies, he often added touches of his jazz background to his work.

In 1961, Hefti became a main representative for Reprise Records. That year, he worked with Frank Sinatra on his Sinatra and Swingin' Brass album. Hefti was the arranger and conductor for all 12 songs.

He also wrote music for TV shows like Batman and The Odd Couple. He received three Grammy nominations for his TV work. He won an award for his Batman TV score. His Batman title theme became a Top 10 hit for other artists and for Hefti himself. His theme for The Odd Couple movie was also used in the TV series. He received two Grammy nominations for his work on The Odd Couple TV series.

After his wife passed away in 1978, Hefti slowly stopped making music. In his later years, he focused on managing his music copyrights.

Death

Neal Hefti died peacefully on October 11, 2008. He was 85 years old. He passed away at his home in Toluca Lake, California. He was survived by his son. His daughter, Marguerita, had passed away before him.

Awards and Recognition

Neal Hefti received many awards and nominations for his musical contributions.

Grammy Nominations and Awards

• Nomination for his album Jazz Pops (featuring "Li'l Darlin'," "Cute," "Coral Reef") as an artist.
• Two awards for his work on Basie, also known as Atomic Basie (for songs like "Li'l Darlin'," "Splanky," "Teddy the Toad") as a composer.
• Three nominations (and one award) for the Batman TV score.
• Two nominations for the Harlow movie score, specifically for the song "Girl Talk."
• Two nominations for The Odd Couple TV score.

Other Honors

• Nomination from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1968 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music for "The Fred Astaire Show" as a conductor.
• Inducted into the Jazz Wall of Fame by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 2005.

Discography

See also

In Spanish: Neal Hefti para niños

• List of jazz arrangers
• List of music arrangers
• Ralph Patt, jazz guitarist who toured with Hefti