Step With Pep: The Ragtime and Dance Music of Mel B. Kaufman

Mel B. Kaufman (1879-1932), the "King of the One Step," was one of the most popular and prolific composers of syncopated dance music in the 1910s and early '20s. His work was featured by such bandleaders as Vincent Lopez, Eugene Jaudas, Charles Prince, and Joseph C. Smith, and his lively, catchy melodies found their way into the soundtracks of hundreds of films and animated cartoons well into the 1950s. In this first-ever CD devoted exclusively to Kaufman's music, several of his works are being recorded for the first time. All selections are played from original period orchestrations. Andrew Greene, director of the PRSO and the world's leading authority on Mel Kaufman, contributes an in-depth essay on Kaufman's life and work in the accompanying 40-page booklet which also includes dozens of rare photographs and original sheet music cover art, a comprehensive Kaufman discography, filmography, and more. Features special guest appearances by vocalist William Edwards and pianist Richard Dow