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Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter born on October 29, 1922, in Hastings, Nebraska, and he passed away on October 11, 2008, in Los Angeles, California. He married Woody Herman's vocalist in 1945. Hefti was most renowned for his work as a composer and arranger, particularly for Woody Herman and Count Basie. He began arranging professionally in his teens for Nat Towles and played trumpet in the early '40s with various artists. In 1944, he joined Woody Herman's band, where he established a strong reputation for composing and arranging, creating notable works such as "The Good Earth," "Wild Root," "Woodchopper's Ball," and "Blowin' Up a Storm," while still performing on trumpet. From 1950 onward, Hefti wrote numerous songs for Count Basie, including "Li'l Darlin'," "Cute," "Whirly Bird," "Little Pony," and "Kid from Red Bank." He intermittently led his own band during the '50s but shifted his focus in the '60s to writing TV and film scores, contributing themes for productions like Batman, Barefoot in the Park, and The Odd Couple. Throughout his career, Hefti charted eight times in the U.S. and two times in the U.K. between 1965 and 1995 as a songwriter, with two of those as an artist. His highest-charting song was

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