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Paul West

Pianist/singer/composer Paul West entered the Seattle music scene in the middle 50's, appearing at Norm Bobrow's Colony with Broadway "Flower Drum Song" star Pat Suzuki. Through the 60's Paul held forth at The Door Coffeehouse, The Sorrento Hotel and the Riviera on Lake Union with bassists Kenny Greig, Don Rogers and Lee Phelps (returning later for another long stay when the Riviera became the Hungry Turtle). In the 70's Paul formed the popular trio ‘BLT’ with Rolf Johnson and Gail Clements. In the early 80's, West worked in Seattle and Los Angeles with Mark Brown and Garnet Hundley in the trio ‘Surprise,’ highlighted by Jazz Alley and Bellevue Jazz Festival appearances backed by the Barney McClure/Chuck Deardorf/Mike McKinley trio. The mid 80's found West pursuing his advertising copywriting career in Los Angeles, where he had a long stand at LA Nicola (occasionally joined by trombonist Bill Reichenbach). Returning to Seattle to work at Microsoft in 1991, Paul, along with Lee Phelps and Norm Bobrow became fixtures at the Rive Gauche (now Tula's) and for the past 7 years at the College Club. "Lucky So and So" is West's second album of (mostly) original compositions.


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43

Obituary

Entertaining Musician, Ad Man Paul West Dies

Entertaining Musician, Ad Man Paul West Dies

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene

Paul West, an ebullient pianist, singer and humorist who entertained several generations on Seattle's lounge scene from the 1950s forward, died Monday. He was 76. The cause was prostate cancer. Though Mr. West worked much of his life as an advertising man by day, he played music by night. He was probably best known for his '70s trio BLT—Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato—featuring bassist Rolf Johnson (son of well-known Seattle architect Sig Johnson) and vocalist Gail Clements. Seattle's cocktail-lounge scene—all but ...

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Recording

Paul Weston: Mood for 12/Solo Mood

Paul Weston: Mood for 12/Solo Mood

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Every so often I receive an email from a reader asking whether I really dig easy listening music. My answer is this: Yes, selectively. So do all writers, secretly. Easy listening is the equivalent of a mental rubdown. While I spend most of my days writing and listening to jazz, rock and r&b recordings, there are times when I need to write and decompress at the same time. Or the weather is so miserable that a tranquil recording is what's ...

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