Neal Hefti (1922–2008), American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger
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The band was Mutual Broadcasting's houseband for three years, and through the band passed such musicians as Johnny Mandel, Paul Fredricks, Skeets Herfurt, Neal Hefti, Dave Tough, Mel Lewis, Don Lamond, Andy Russell, Alfred Burt and three of Woody Herman's future "Four Brothers" sax section: Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, and Herbie Steward.
In 1951 he began playing regularly again, touring with Buddy DeFranco, then worked with Jerry Wald, Tex Beneke, Elliot Lawrence, Stan Kenton, and Neal Hefti.
Other major musicians with whom Jackie recorded include Hank Jones, Charlie Shavers, Joe Wilder, Wynton Kelly, Eddie Costa, Coleman Hawkins, Bobby Scott, Max Roach, Lee Konitz, Donald Byrd, Gigi Gryce, Ralph Burns, Tony Scott, Neal Hefti, Terry Gibbs, Johnny Mandel, Oscar Pettiford, and many others.
A typical background music track for "Weather With a Beat" was Count Basie's version of Neal Hefti's tune, "Cute", featuring Frank Wess on flute.
In his role as their bandleader, Towles is credited with influencing a variety of musicians including Sir Charles Thompson and Neal Hefti, as well as superior saxophonists Jimmy Heath, Oliver Nelson and Paul Quinichette.
For most of its run, the late-night program opened with a shot of a mist-shrouded castle (in actuality, a touched-up Addams Family Haunted House Aurora model kit), accompanied by sound effects borrowed from Walt Disney's Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House and music pilfered from Neal Hefti's score for the 1966 Roddy McDowall film Lord Love a Duck.
He had a long list of associations with noted jazz musicians; he started out with Buddy Morrow in 1947, and then played with Lee Castle (1948), Sam Donahue (1949), Artie Shaw (1949–50), Art Mooney (1950), Tito Puente, Jerry Wald, Tommy Tucker, Buddy Rich, Ralph Flanagan (1951–52), the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra (1953–55), Neal Hefti (1954–55), Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey (1955–56), and Maynard Ferguson (1956).