J. Hill (born James Hill) is an American music

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

who worked extensively in his earlier years as a brass player in

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

s, later on taking up music arranging. He has received three

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. For Les Brown Orchestra, he composed many arrangements. He eventually spread out into freelance arranging, doing charts for

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. The program was known for its light and family-friendly style, and the ...

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

, Bob Hope, and others. He also became chief arranger for the first four years of the

Dean Martin Show ''The Dean Martin Show'' is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit "Everybody Loves Somebody". Nielsen ratings * Se ...

(which featured Bandleader "Les Brown and his Band of Renown"), producing orchestrations for Dean and his co-stars to sing behind. He was eventually replaced on the show by

Van Alexander Van Alexander (May 2, 1915 – July 19, 2015) was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer. Early years Van Alexander was born Alexander Van Vliet Feldman in Harlem. His mother was a classical pianist, and she taught him to play the piano. ...

who did the remainder of the show's run.

Discography

With

*''

Wild About Harry! ''Wild About Harry!'' is a studio album by the American trumpeter Harry James with The Harry James Orchestra. The album was recorded in May 1957 and released by Capitol Records on stereo LP (ST-874), mono LP (T-874), and a series of three EPs (EA ...

'' (Capitol Records – ST 874, 1957) *''

The New James ''The New James'' is a studio album by American trumpeter Harry James with The Harry James Orchestra. The album was recorded April 1–3, 1958 and released by Capitol Records on stereo LP (ST-1037), mono LP (T-1037), and a series of three EPs (E ...

'' (Capitol Records – ST 1037, 1958) *'' Harry's Choice!'' (Capitol Records – ST 1093, 1958)

Notes

External links

* American music arrangers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{US-music-bio-stub