Martin Kalmanoff
As a young man, Kalmanoff studied composition at Harvard University with Walter Piston. While Kalmanoff may not be too well known today, nevertheless, his popular songs have been recorded over 200 times by such singers as Mario Lanza, Dean Martin, Eddie Fisher, Pat Boone, Connie Francis, Steve Lawrence, Robert Goulet, Tony Bennet, and Elvis Presley. His biggest hit was "Just Say I Love Her", which he wrote in collaboration with Jimmy Dale, Sam Ward, and Jack Val. (I am not certain, but the tune may have been originally composed by Enzo Fusco and Rodolfo Falvo. ) To give an idea of this tune's popularity, it was recorded, in the USA, by the following :
101 Strings Orch.
Dave Appollon
Kay Armen
Frankie Avalon
Tony Bennett
Phil Brito
Sam Butera
Remo Carpa
Carmen Cavallero Orch.
Franco Corelli
Tony Dalli
Vic Damone
Johnnie Desmond
Emery Deutsch
Giuseppe Di Steffano
Irving Fields Trio
Eddie Fisher
The Four Lads
Sergio Franchi
Connie Francis
Robert Goulet
Janice Harper
Eddie Holman
Engelbert Humperdink
Joni James
The Journey Men
Julius La Rosa
Mario Lanza
Michelle Legrand
The Living Strings
Guy Lombardo
The Manhattan Pops Orch. ("Skitch" Henderson leader)
Dave Martin
Al Martino
Duke Mitchell
Lou Monte
Jerry Murad's Harmonicats
Tony Osborne
Glenn Osser Orch.
Hugo Peretti
Joe Reisman Orch.
Jimmy Roselli
Artie Shaw Orch.
Enzo Stuarti
The Three Suns Vocal Group
Richard Tucker
Jerry Vale
Rita Williams
Hugo Winterhalter
The World of Guitars

A small sampling of his other work includes such works as (Written alone unless otherwise credited) :
"Abraham", with Edwin Martinet
"At A Sidewalk Penny Arcade", with Aaron Schroeder, James L. Macdonald, and Edward R. White
"Bocachica Costa Rica", with Irving Fields and Aaron Schroeder
"Bolero of Love", with Alfredo Antonini and Domenico Savono
"Calypso Boogie", with Aaron Schroeder and Edward R. White
"DoDo Bird In The Banyan Tree" , with Mack David and Aaron H. Schroeder
"Dream"
"Grateful", with Aaron Schroeder (vocalist Don Cornell recorded the tune)
"Half Way to Heaven", with Aaron Schroeder
"Hollywood Concerto"
"Kaddish For A Warring World", with Allen Ginsburg, Siegfried Sassoon, and Karl Shapiro.
"Lullaby For Lovers", with Aaron Schroeder
"My Dog Met Your Dog"
"My Little Space Cadet"
"No Love So True", with Aaron H. Schroeder
"She Sends Her Regards, I Send Her My Love", with Aaron Schroeder
"The Shepherd of the Stars"
"Siempre", with Aaron H. Schroeder

Kalmanoff worked both as a composer and as a lyricist. (He was also the uncredited lyricist for the 1958 film 'King Creole'.) Included in the over fifty-four works he composed for the musical theater are the operas, 'The Bald Soprano', adapted from the Ionesco play, 'The Harmfulness of Tobacco' (from Anton Chekhov), 'Opera Opera' by William Saroyan (a three-act grand-opera version of 'The Insect Comedy' by Karel and Josef Capek), and 'Photograph 1920', a video opera with text by Gertrude Stein.

   Bert Kalmar
b. Feb. 10, 1884, New York, NY., d. Sept. 18, 1947, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Overview
Before he had even reached his teen years, at age 10, Bert had run away from home to become a tent show magician, a desire that remained with him throughout his life. Ill educated, he somehow found his career, and spent his entire life in show business. Before WW1, he wrote lyrics for several different composers, among them Harry Ruby. Ruby also worked with many different collaborators pre-war. But, by 1920, they both recognized that there was a special quality to their work together, and they became a lifelong team.

Lyricist Bert Kalmar started out as a vaudeville performer. He used his vaudeville earnings to form Kalmar and Puck, a music publishing firm. Harry Ruby was hired as a song plugger. Kalmar became a full time songwriter when a knee injury precluded any dancing on stage. His friend Harry Ruby got him a job as a lyricist in Waterson, Berlin and Snyder (where Ruby was then employed). Kalmar's first songs included:
1915 "Hello Hawaii, How Are You?", Edgar Leslie lyric; Jean Schwartz tune.
1919 "Oh What a Pal Was Mary", also with Leslie collaboration on lyic.
1920 "I'm A Vamp From East Broadway", Kalmar and Ruby and Berlin.

In time, he collaborated almost exclusively with composer Harry Ruby. They wrote their hit songs mainly for Hollywood movies but also contributed to several Broadway shows.

Among their best songs, are:
1923 Scored their first Broadway musical 'Helen of Troy'.
1923 "Who's Sorry Now?", their first bit hit.
1928 "I Wanna Be Loved by You", a Boop-boop-a-doop girl Helen Kane hit.
"I Love You So Much"
1930 "Three Little Words". Their biggest hit. Bing Crosby, accompanied by the Duke Ellington orchestra, sang it in the Amos n' Andy film 'Check and Double Check'
1931 "Nevertheless", a hit for both Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee.
1932 "What A Perfect Combination"
Kalmar and Ruby teamed with lyricist Irving Caesar, and composer Harry Akst, to write this song, for B'way show 'The Kid', which starred Eddie Cantor.

His last hit, "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," which came twenty years after his previous hit.

Kalmar died in 1947. His partner Harry Ruby, who survived him by 25 years, virtually stopped his composing. Bert Kalmar is a Songwriters' Hall of Fame member

   Michael Kamen
b. 15 April 1948, New York, NY, USA
In 1965, Kamen graduated from the High School of Music and Art (New York City), where he had played in the orchestra and led the school dance band. He continued to study music at New York's famed Juilliard School of Music, specializing in the oboe. After graduation, he (with some of his fellow graduates) became the co-founder and leader of The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble (later called simply The New York Rock Ensemble), a classical music-influenced 'Rock' band in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The group released four albums: "The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble", "Faithful Friends", "Roll Over", and "Freedomburger". The group also performed in "rock western" film 'Zachariah'. Following the break-up of the New York Rock Ensemble, Kamen performed as a solo act and released one self-named album. He is also an Oscar winner for Best Song: "I Do It All For You" from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves".

Among other Michael Kamen activities, he :
Worked with such artists as Kate Bush and Queensryche.
1990 Released "Concerto For Saxophone". (Warner Brothers Records. Featured David Sanborn)
Worked with Sanborn and Eric Clapton on scores for the three 'Lethal Weapon' films
Co-wrote "Real World" with Queensryche for the soundtrack to 'Last Action Hero'
Collaborated with Pink Floyd on their album "The Wall"
Conducted the orchestra for the "MTV 10" performance of "Dream On" by Aerosmith
1991 Orchestrated Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" (on album "Metallica").

Kamen has scored, worked on, or composed music for over 81 films, and continues to be active.

   John Kander
b. March 8, 1927, Kansas City, MO, USA.
Overview
The music half of the Ebb and Kander team that, in their 21 year collaboration, gave the world such outstanding hit shows as 'Zorba'; 'Cabaret' and 'Woman of the Year'.

1962 Scored 'A Family Affair', Hal Prince Directed. 65 performances.
1965 Scored 'Flora, The Red Menace', Liza Mineli starred.
1966 Scored 'Cabaret', 1166 performances.
1968 Scored 'Zorba', 305 performances, Hal Prince directed.
1975 Scored 'Chicago', 699 performances. Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera
1977 Scored 'The Act', Liza Mineli starred.

   Bronislaw Kaper
b. Feb. 5, 1902, Warsaw, Poland, d. April 26, 1983. Beverly Hills, CA, USA.
Overview
Composer Bronislaw Kaper is mostly remembered today as the conductor, arranger, and composer for Hollywood films from the mid-1930's to the late 1960's.

Kaper got his musical training at the Warsaw Conservatory of Music and then in Berlin. After which he worked as a composer in several European cities including London and Paris. In addition to composing concert music, he scored early German sound films, usually in collaboration with Austrian composer Walter Jurman. In 1935, with Hitler firmly in power, Kaper emigrated to the US, via France, and was able to find work in the Hollywood studios. In collaboration with lyricist Gus Kahn, he contributed songs for various films. In time, MGM signed him to a long term contract. For MGM, he composed scores for many of that studio's major films including 'LiLi' (1953), for which he won an Academy Award.

Some of the songs he composed at this time were:
for film, 'A Night At the Opera', starring the Marx Brothers:
      "Cosi Cosa" (Sung by Allan Jones to co-star Kitty Carlyle) collaborated with Walter Jurmann.
For film 'Mutiny On The Bounty', Laughton and Gable starred.
      "Love Song of Tahiti" (collab: Walter Jurmann, lyric: Gus Kahn)
For film 'Escapade', he wrote:
      "You're All I Need"       "San Francisco" (collab: Walter Jurmann, lyric: Gus Kahn)
      "Happy New Year"
For film 'A Day At The Races", starring the Marx Brothers,
      "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" (collab: Walter Jurmann, lyric: Gus Kahn)
For film 'A Message From THe Man in The Moon',
      "Tomorrow is Another Day" (collab: Walter Jurmann, lyric: Gus Kahn)
For film 'Three Smart Girls'
      "Someone to Care For Me"
      "My Heart Is Singing"
For film 'Everbody Sing', he wrote:
      "The One I Love"
      "Swing, Mr. Mendelssohn"
For 1940 film, 'Lillian Russell', he wrote
      "Blue Lovebird", with lyric by Gus Kahn

Starting in 1940, he scored complete films, among which were:
   Johnny Eager
   The Chocolate Soldier
   Two Faced Woman
   Keeper of the Flame
   Somewhere I'll Find You
   Gaslight
   Mrs. Parkinson
   Without Love
   Green Dolphin Street. His song "On Green Dolphin Street" became a jazz standard.
For film, 'That Midnight Kiss', Mario Lanza's debut film,
      " "I Know, I Know, I Know"

In 1953, his score for film 'Lili' won the Academy Award. The song,
      ""Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo" had lyric by Helen Deutsch. In 1954, film 'Glass Slipper' had his song,
      ""Take My Love" with lyric again by Helen Deutsch. 1956 Theme of the MGM film "Somebody Up There Likes Me"
      "Somebody Up There Likes Me, with lyric by Sammy Cahn.

During the 1950's and 1960's, he composed music for a very large number of films, including:
   A Life of Her Own
   Red Badge of Courage
   The Wild North
   The Naked Spur
   Them
   Somebody Up There Likes Me
   The Swan
   Don't Go Near the Water
   Auntie Mame
   The Brothers Karamazov
   Butterfield 8
   Green Mansions
   The Angel Wore Red
   Two Loves
   Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
   "Follow Me", lyric by Paul Francis Webster
   Kisses for my President
   Lord Jim
   The Way West
   Tobruk
   Counterpoint
   A Flea in Her Ear (1968)

Kaper also composed some for TV also, one program was 'The FBI'.

In 1945 he adapted Chopin's music for the Broadway show 'Polonaise', collaborating with Bob Russell, Herbert Stothart and Hector Villa-Lobos.