Neal Paul Hefti, born October 29, 1922, in Hastings, Nebraska, was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. Hefti began arranging as a teenager for Nat Towles and played trumpet with big bands led by Bob Astor, Charlie Spivak, and Charlie Barnet. In 1944, he joined Woody Herman's First Herd as a trumpeter and arranger, composing the band's popular instrumental tracks “Wild Root” and “The Good Earth”. Leaving Herman in 1946, he worked as a freelance arranger for Buddy Rich, Harry James, and Charlie Ventura. In 1950, Hefti began his long-standing association with Count Basie's "New Testament" band, supplying signature arrangements and compositions such as “Li'l Darlin”, “Splanky”, and “Cute”. He composed and arranged all eleven tracks on the landmark 1957 album The Atomic Mr. Basie, which earned him two Grammy Awards. Hefti also led his own big band, releasing solo studio albums including Hefti, Hot and Hearty in 1955 and Jazz Pops in 1962, and became chief A&R representative at Reprise Records in 1961. In the 1960s, he transitioned to scoring for film and television, composing the score and theme song “Batman Theme” for the 1966 Batman television series, which won a Grammy Award, as well as film scores for Sex and the Single Girl (1964), How to Murder Your Wife (1965), Harlow (1965), Barefoot in the Park (1967), and The Odd Couple (1968). Following the death of his wife Frances Wayne in 1978, Hefti retired from active music making to manage his copyrights. He died of natural causes in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California, on October 11, 2008, at age 85.
