Willis Leonard Holman (May 21, 1927 – May 6, 2024) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, saxophonist, and songwriter working in jazz and traditional pop.

Although his family had no musical background, Holman was influenced by Count Basie and Duke Ellington while constantly listening to the radio.

He got his first professional start with Ike Carpenter's dance band, and then with the Charlie Barnet Orchestra in 1950 as a tenor saxophonist.

[2] Early commercial work as an arranger came in 1951–52 when he wrote charts for band leader and producer Bob Keane for the album, Dancing on the Ceiling.

Through his acquaintance with Gene Roland, Holman was auditioned by Stan Kenton and hired as a tenor saxophone player for two years in March 1952 (replacing Bob Cooper).

Being young and ambitious, I reached too far in the writing and exceeded my limits - the charts were disasters and never heard of again - but Stan gamely suggested that I do another.

I remember the day we were all in New York, as part of the '54 All Star Concert Tour with the Kenton guys plus Shorty Rogers and his Quintet.

"In sum, it was a pretty high level for an 'earn-as-you-learn' case such as mine, but, ill-equipped as I was, Stan's patience and encouragement and the help of a lot of great players enabled me to make a start in a long and rewarding career.

[2] Examples of Holman's work for Woody Herman are "Mulligan Tawny" and "Blame Boehm" that were recorded for Columbia in 1954.

The association and the writing for the Woody Herman continued off and on up through the 1980s; this included four Grammy nominated albums Holman's work is recorded on.

Holman became the primary 'go to' composer and arranger helping to create an appeal Rich was to have with much younger audiences at a time, when big bands had fallen out of fashion.

Drum features and pop/rock tunes Holman wrote greatly helped Rich to achieve a new sound, that aided the band to gain a younger listening audience.

Holman's arrangement of the Beatles "Norwegian Wood" was a commercial success, and prominently featured on numerous live television performances, creating a high profile early on for Rich's band.

Through Holman's associations to personnel from Central Avenue, Stan Kenton, and Woody Herman he assembled small jazz groups and participated in those of others.

These include Carmen McRae, Bob Cooper, Shorty Rogers, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, The Tonight Show Band, Manhattan Transfer, Diane Schuur, J.J. Johnson, Jack Sheldon, Charlie Shoemake, Howard Roberts, Ann Richards, Anita O'Day, Lighthouse All-Stars, June Christy, Mel Torme, Chet Baker, Art Pepper, Lennie Niehaus, Conte Candoli, Dave Pell, Shelly Manne and Terry Gibbs.

This roster includes Burt Bacharach, Pearl Bailey, Tony Bennett, Les Brown, Michael Bublé, Bobby Darin, Johnny Desmond, The Four Freshmen, Jackie & Roy, Eartha Kitt, Mario Lanza, Steve Lawrence, Peggy Lee, Seals & Crofts, Bobby Sherman, Tak Shindo, The Turtles, Randy VanWarmer and Si Zentner.

He wrote film scores for Swamp Women (1956), Get Out of Town (1959), and Three on a Couch (1966), Glengarry Glen Ross, The Wrecking Crew, Luv, Harper, The Marrying Man and Sharky's Machine.

The group also recorded several albums under Holman's name backing Jackie & Roy, Mark Murphy and David Allen.

By the late 1960s Holman had de-emphasized the group due to his busy schedule, the commercial viability of a big band, and partly because of the departure of drummer Mel Lewis moving back to New York City.

Pulling in Los Angeles studio musicians who admired and appreciated his work, Holman was able to release a list of acclaimed CDs, including Brilliant Corners, which featured arrangements of tunes written by Thelonious Monk, that won a Grammy in 1997.

Musical scores and recording for Bill Holman are archived in over 20 major countries' national libraries around the world.

In May 2000, the Bill Holman Collection of scores and memorabilia was established at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.[8] On January 12, 2010, the National Endowment for the Arts bestowed the 2010 NEA Jazz Masters Award on Bill Holman, the nation's highest honor for jazz and American Music.

[10] Grammy Award-winning singles or albums contributed to as composer or arranger Grammy Award nominated singles or albums contributed to as composer or arranger Academy Award nominated songs or soundtracks contributed to as composer or arranger With Terry Gibbs With Shorty Rogers With others With Count Basie With Gabe Baltazar With Charlie Barnet With Louie Bellson With Tony Bennett With Michael Bublé With June Christy With Natalie Cole With Maynard Ferguson With Jerry Fielding And His Orchestra With Terry Gibbs With Benny Goodman With Woody Herman With Jackie and Roy With Harry James With Bob Keane With Stan Kenton With Peggy Lee With Carmen McRae With Gerry Mulligan With Mark Murphy With Anita O'Day With Art Pepper With Art Pepper and Conte Candoli With Buddy Rich With Ann Richards With Frank Rosolino With Diane Schuur With Charlie Shoemake With Zoot Sims With The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen With Sarah Vaughan With Jiggs Whigham and the WDR Big Band With Si Zentner Holman's marriage to jazz singer and pianist Jeri Southern ended in divorce.