 Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Dorsey, Warren Covington, Maynard Ferguson and Stan Kenton.In 1960 he began devoting himself primarily to arranging and conducting; one of his best-known arrangements was for Wes Montgomery's 1965 album "Bumpin"'.Other credits include George Benson's "The Shape of Things to Come", Paul Desmond's "From the Hot Afternoon" and Freddie Hubbard's "First Light".