Bill Holman, whose arrangements shaped West Coast jazz, has died at the age of 96

His economical, linear writing defined the sound of the Stan Kenton Band. He also led his own 16-piece ensemble for many decades.

Bill Holman, an arranger and composer whose work with Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan and other jazz greats made him a leading figure in the cool jazz sound associated with 1950s California, died Monday at his home in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. He was 96 years old.

The death was reported by Katherine King, his stepdaughter.

Mr. Holman's long association with Mr. Kenton, first as a saxophonist in his band and then as an arranger, laid the foundation of his reputation, but he also went on to make arrangements for Maynard Ferguson, Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Michael Bublé and many others, as well as leading his own 16-piece ensemble.

He has won three Grammy Awards - for his arrangements of the songs "Take the A Train" (1988) for Doc Severinsen's band and "Straight, No Chaser" (1998) for his own band, and for the original composition "A View From the Side" (1996). He has also contributed compositions and arrangements to seven other Grammy-winning recordings, including Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable" (1991). He has received a total of 16 Grammy Award nominations.

Mr. Holman was known for his economical, linear arrangements, which used elegant counterpoint and dissonance to enliven both old standards and his own works. Raised in the big bands of the 1930s and '40s, he helped Mr. Kenton and other musicians of that era transition to a more energetic sound in the postwar years.

In his 20s, he was already an innovator in the field of arranging, creating new directions along which jazz developed in the following decades. Although he was often imitated, his unique style remained easily recognizable, even in the pieces he wrote for other arrangers.