San Francisco jazz and cabaret vocalist Paula West is known for her rich contralto and nuanced interpretations of the Great American Songbook, blues, and carefully chosen songs from beyond the standard jazz canon.
Home base: San Francisco, California
Styles: Jazz Vocals, Cabaret, Standards, Great American Songbook, Blues
Instruments: Vocals
Band: Performs with rotating small jazz ensembles and longtime collaborators, including pianist Ken Muir.
Paula West is a jazz and cabaret singer whose career developed in San Francisco before extending to clubs and concert halls in New York, Europe, and beyond. Raised in Southern California in a Marine Corps family, she began exploring jazz singing in college and moved to San Francisco in the late 1980s, where she studied vocal interpretation and developed her stage work through hotel, bar, and restaurant engagements. West’s performances are built around close attention to lyric, mood, and phrasing, drawing from the Great American Songbook, blues, and an eclectic repertoire that has included songs associated with Bob Dylan, the Beatles, David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Johnny Cash. Her recordings include Temptation, Restless, Come What May, and Live at Jazz Standard.
Paula West performs at Keys Jazz Bistro. A true treasure of the Bay Area jazz scene, vocalist Paula West is celebrated for her rich contralto voice and deeply expressive interpretations...