Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Theo Croker’s Dream … Manifested!
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
Neal Hefti, composer and arranger for the jazz orchestras of Woody Herman and Count Basie, and creator of the theme for the ‘60s television show “Batman,” died Saturday of undetermined causes at his home in Toluca Lake, Calif. He was 85.
Hefti began his music career as a trumpeter with Charlie Barnet’s band. Influenced by the bebop style of players like Dizzy Gillespie, Hefti developed a reputation as an influential arranger and composer for fellow jazz artists. He began working with Woody Herman’s orchestra in the mid-‘40s, composing tunes like “Apple Honey” and “Wild Root.” He is often credited with shifting the swing orchestra’s style towards bebop.
By the late ‘40s, Hefti left playing to concentrate on composing, recording with his own studio band. Popular recordings like Repetition, which featured Charlie Parker, and Coral Reef, led Hefti to form his own touring band for a few years in the 1950s.
His compositions for the Count Basie band in the 1950s were among his most famous, which include tunes like “Cute,” “Little Darlin’” and “Splanky.”
Hefti found success in the 1960s writing television and film scores that included Neil Simon’s “Barefoot In The Park” and “Last Of The Red Hot Lovers,” and the themes for both versions of “The Odd Couple.” He received his only Grammy award in 1966 for penning the “Batman” theme. By then, Hefti was an in-demand composer and arranger, working with artists like Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Doris Day and Tony Bennett.
Born into a musical family from Hastings, Neb., Hefti received a trumpet for Christmas at age 10, which he was said to have taken to immediately. He won several prizes in school competitions and began writing arrangements for dance bands while still in high school.
To record Dream Manifest (Dom Recs), Croker convened artists from his current and recent past ensembles, plus special guests.
Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
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When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
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You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
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Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
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Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
