Neal Hefti

Genres:	Big Band & Swing, Instrumental, Jazz
Decades Active:	1950s, 1960s, 1990s, 2000s
Search for Artist on:	OLDIES.com, Wikipedia, Flikr (photos), YouTube (videos)
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Biography

29 October 1922, Hastings, Nebraska, USA. One of the most influential big band arrangers of the 40s and 50s, Hefti's early charts were played by the Nat Towles band in the late 30s. His material was also used by Earl Hines; however, his first real taste of the big time came when he joined Charlie Barnet in 1942 and then moved into the Woody Herman band in 1944. Both engagements were as a member of the trumpet section, but his writing became steadily more important than his playing. For Herman he arranged many of the band's most popular recordings, including "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root", and was co-arranger with Ralph Burns of "Caldonia". In 1946 Hefti's charts were among those used by the ill-fated Billy Butterfield big band and by Charlie Ventura's equally short-lived band. In the late 40s he wrote for what was one of the best of Harry James' bands; in the mid-50s, along with Ernie Wilkins and Nat Pierce, he helped to give the Count Basie band the new...

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