February 9, 3:00 pm
- Marc Mellits
Splinter (See video) - Jeff Scott
Homage to Paradise Valley - Willem Jeths
Maktub - John Steinmetz
Sorrow and Celebration
More on this concert …
Program Notes
Arnold Berleant’s Concert Note
Introductory video about the Akropolis Reed Quintet
“Pure gold, shot through with tenderness and grace.”
–San Francisco Chronicle
“The quintet plays with imagination, infallible musicality, and huge vitality.”
–Fanfare Magazine
“Innovative, youthful, and full of enthusiasm.”
–Maryland Theatre Guide
Jeff Scott’s “Homage to Paradise Valley,” takes inspiration from an historic Detroit neighborhood. You may listen again (or for the first time!) to the fourth and final movement of the piece below. It is entitled “Paradise Theater Jump.” Akropolis’ own notes supply this context for the movement:
Orchestra Hall, where the Detroit Symphony Orchestra now performs, closed in 1939 but reopened in 1941 as the Paradise Theater. For ten years it would then offer the best of African-American musicians from around the country. Duke Ellington opened Christmas week with his big band, admission was 50 cents, and patrons could stay all day. There were three shows every day and four on weekends. “B” movies were shown between acts. During the glory days of jazz, the Paradise Theater saw Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, Billie Holiday, and many more. Paradise Theater Jump is dedicated to this famed theater and harkens to the up- tempo style of “jump blues.”