Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
DownBeat’s 73rd Annual Critics Poll: One for the Record Books
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
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.
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.
Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
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