Claus Ogerman

• Born 29 April 1930, Ratibor, Germany (now Raciborz, Poland)

Along with Lalo Schifrin, Ogerman created some of the fruggin'-best arrangements of the "now sound." His two mid-60s instrumental albums for RCA--Watusi Trumpets and Saxes Mexicano--are well worth looking for, as are his arrangements for Cal Tjader's "Soul Sauce"-era albums on Verve.

Ogerman studied classical piano in Nuremberg after graduating from gymnasium, then joined Kurt Edelhagen's pioneering German jazz band. He spent five years with rival bandleader Max Greger, during which time he began doing arrangements and composed scores for 14 German films.

In 1959, he emigrated to the U.S. and worked for television and recording studios as a commercial arranger. By 1963, he had become something of a house arranger for Verve, where he worked on albums by Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Tjader. He then moved with producer Creed Taylor to Herb Alpert's A&M label, where he worked with Paul Desmond and others.

Recordings