Neal Hefti: The Band Years

Hearing Neal Hefti: Forever in Time, a newly released double-CD from the U.K.'s Jasmine label, reminded me how superb Hefti was in the 1950s as a composer, arranger and conductor of his own studio orchestras. Most of these dates were of the jazz-pop, dance-band ilk, with an emphasis on clever melodic hooks, patient swing and sectional punch. And the musicians in the bands he assembled for recording were the cream of the studio scene. For example, on Hefti Hot 'N Hearty, an album for Epic recorded over a series of dates straddling 1954 and '55, here are the guys who were on the various sessions:  Bobby Hackett, Billy Butterfield (tp); Billy Byers, Sonny Russo, Kai Winding (tb); Phil Woods, Jerome Richardson, Seldon Powell, Hal McKusick (saxophones); Billy Taylor, Lou Stein, Nat Pierce (p); Barry Galbraith, Art Ryerson, Billy Mure (g); Chet Amsterdam, John Drew (b); and Gus Johnson, Ted Sommer, Osie Johnson, Sol Gubin (d). Catch my drift?

I wouldn't categorize Hefti's writing or arranging as cool or suave during this period. Unlike Billy May and Nelson Riddle, Hefti tended to veer toward cute, clever and blusey, with wallops along the way. Once Hefti crafted a terrific melodic line, he'd arrange the melody inside out, with a swinging Jimmie Lunceford feel and a Kansas City twist. This is perhaps why Hefti was so well suited to the Count Basie Orchestra starting in 1951. He wrote simply but arranged in a way that the personality of Basie's sections could slide in and out with call-and-response treatments. In this regard, he isn't given nearly enough credit for being the architect of Basie's  “New Testament" sound.

On the new double CD, you'll find four albums—Band with Young Ideas (1951-52), Hefti Hot 'N Hearty (1954-55), Hollywood Songbook Vol. 1 (1958) and Jazz Pops (1962). What you'll hear is Hefti as an extraordinary orchestrator and a sterling composer of songs that would become band standards. Lake Placid, for example, which was recorded only once in 1952, is a stunning piece of writing. Other magnificent originals here include Two for the Blues, Coral Reef, Little Pony, Plymouth Rock, Cute, Lil' Darlin' and Ready Rudy, with a marvelous alto saxophone solo by Hal McKusick.

By 1958, Hefti had begun to ease into pop. The Hollywood Songbook Vol. 1 includes strings, and Hefti's charts overreach, swerving too often toward novelty. But Jazz Pops features extraordinary updated arrangements for songs like Cute and Lil' Darlin'. On the latter album, he assembled quite a Hollywood studio band: Al Porcino, Conte Candoli, Gerald Wilson, Don Fagerquist, Jack Sheldon (tp); Tommy Pederson, Lew McCreary, Tom Shepard, George Roberts (tb); Dick Nash, Gale Robinson, Bill Hinshaw, Richard Perissi, Vince DeRosa (fhr); Buddy Collette, Harry Klee, Plas Johnson, Bill Calkins, Justin Gordon (fl); Med Flory, Joe Maini, Charlie Kennedy, Louis Ciotti (saxophones); Emil Richards (vibes); Bobby Gibbons (g); Al McKibbon (b); Shelly Manne (d) and Milt Holland and Francisco Aguabella (cga,bgo).

After Jazz Pops, Hefti continued to write for big bands, among them Basie and Harry James, but he devoted a growing percentage of his time to scoring for movies like How to Murder Your Wife, Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple. For my thoughts on his film scores, go here. As for his album-era dance-band work in the '50s, it's still as sexy as can be.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Neal Hefti: Forever in Tune (Jasmine) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's “Lake Placid."

Here's “Ready Ruby“ with Hal McKusick on alto saxophone.

And here's “Two for the Blues." If this had been the only song Hefti wrote and arranged, he'd still be a giant.