Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

UCSD's toy-piano man Scott Paulson channels Jerry Lewis

“I think I’m stealing this line from Kathy Griffin, but we all need to find the strong black woman inside of us and set her free.” Scott Paulson offers this in response to a question about the score he wrote as a modern soundtrack for Josephine Baker’s 1927 silent-film classic Siren of the Tropics.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In May, the UCSD Arts Library outreach coordinator and multi-instrumentalist was selected to perform his Tropics soundtrack at the Black France Film Festival in Paris. “I was excited to have been picked back then,” says Paulson, “because of the incidents that were going on at the time at UCSD.” (A ghetto-themed party planned by UCSD students called the Compton Cookout drew statewide criticism in February.)

At the Paris festival, Paulson performed with his own Teeny Tiny Pit Orchestra, including San Diegan Gene Perry on percussion and pianist Andrew Infanti. The TTPO has performed thusly behind many other silent-era films in and around San Diego, with a rotating cast of local musicians. An instrumentalist-conductor, Paulson has perfected obscure instruments such as the theremin and a strip of metal called a thunder sheet. He describes his own performance as “channeling Jerry Lewis.” He enlists the aid of audience members by giving them various noisemakers — things such as bulb horns and coconuts.

The classically trained symphony oboist is known for his musical eccentricities. September 12 and 13, for example, Paulson will host the Tenth Annual Toy Piano Festival at UCSD’s Geisel Library with Sue Palmer as one of the festival performers.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
Next Article

Victorian Christmas Tours, Jingle Bell Cruises

Events December 22-December 25, 2024

“I think I’m stealing this line from Kathy Griffin, but we all need to find the strong black woman inside of us and set her free.” Scott Paulson offers this in response to a question about the score he wrote as a modern soundtrack for Josephine Baker’s 1927 silent-film classic Siren of the Tropics.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In May, the UCSD Arts Library outreach coordinator and multi-instrumentalist was selected to perform his Tropics soundtrack at the Black France Film Festival in Paris. “I was excited to have been picked back then,” says Paulson, “because of the incidents that were going on at the time at UCSD.” (A ghetto-themed party planned by UCSD students called the Compton Cookout drew statewide criticism in February.)

At the Paris festival, Paulson performed with his own Teeny Tiny Pit Orchestra, including San Diegan Gene Perry on percussion and pianist Andrew Infanti. The TTPO has performed thusly behind many other silent-era films in and around San Diego, with a rotating cast of local musicians. An instrumentalist-conductor, Paulson has perfected obscure instruments such as the theremin and a strip of metal called a thunder sheet. He describes his own performance as “channeling Jerry Lewis.” He enlists the aid of audience members by giving them various noisemakers — things such as bulb horns and coconuts.

The classically trained symphony oboist is known for his musical eccentricities. September 12 and 13, for example, Paulson will host the Tenth Annual Toy Piano Festival at UCSD’s Geisel Library with Sue Palmer as one of the festival performers.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader