• Source: Mel B. Kaufman

      • Melville Bernd Kaufman (April 23, 1879 – February 21, 1932) was a prolific American ragtime piano composer.
      Among his best known works were "Me-Ow", "More Candy", "Taxi", "Step With Pep" and "Pick A Chicken", the latter of which was advertised as a favorite dance number for Vernon Castle. His numbers were featured by bandleaders such as Vincent Lopez, Earl Fuller, and Joseph C. Smith. Several of his compositions were recorded and turned into piano rolls, and many tunes were used in soundtracks and cartoons into the 1950s.
      Kaufman was born in Newark, New Jersey. Beginning in 1919, Kaufman entered into several publishing & recording contracts with the Sam Fox Publishing Company. After his death, his widow May Z. Kaufman became executor of his estate, and in 1934 sued Sam Fox Publishing Company for unpaid royalties due to synchronization rights (an industry term which didn't exist when the contracts were first written in 1919). Sam Fox Publishing Company sought to rewrite their contract with Kaufman's estate (and presambly other artists) to clarify the differences (in meaning and in accounting) between mechanical reproducing rights and synchronization rights. This resulted in a further settlement arbitrated by ASCAP's John G. Paine, which Sam Fox appealed to the New York Supreme Court.
      Earlier, in 1926, Kaufman had endorsed efforts to amend United States copyright law to better protect rights-holders' interests in light of the new radio broadcast medium.
      Kaufman died in New York City.


      Selected compositions


      Be Careful (Artur Guttman made an arrangement of this foxtrot for piano and violin)
      Bing! Bing! (foxtrot)
      Cheer Up (one-step)
      Come Across
      Corn-Huskers
      Frisky (foxtrot)
      Good Scout March
      Hamadan (sometimes listed as Hamidan)
      Happy Go Lucky
      I'm a Sentimental Dreamer
      It's A Bird
      Listen to This
      Magnolia Bloom
      Maria (a "novelty fox trot")
      Me-Ow (one-step), later used in the Looney Tunes short Tweety's Circus.
      More Candy (one-step)
      Muslin Rag
      Ouch, which played during a segue in Charlie Chaplin's 1927 reissue of the 1917 movie Shoulder Arms
      Pack Me Up In Your Heart
      Persian Moon
      Pick A Chicken
      Pins and Needles (one-step)
      Play Ball, which was composed for Harold Lloyd's movie The Freshman
      Playtime
      Plenty Sweet
      Squidulum (words by his wife May Z. Kaufman)
      Step with Pep
      Stick Around (also known as Introduce Me)
      Stop It
      Taxi
      Step With Pep
      Umbrellas To Mend
      Up We Go
      Watch It
      Yah-de-Dah (the sheet music cover shows Earl Fuller's band)


      References




      External links


      Free scores by Mel B. Kaufman at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
      "Kaufman, Mel B.", Discography of American Historical Recordings, University of California, Santa Barbara Library
      https://www.peacherineragtime.com/product-page/step-with-pep-cd First CD dedicated to the music of Kaufman, by Andrew Greene and the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

    Kata Kunci Pencarian: