Pianist/singer/composer Paul West entered the Seattle music scene in the mid-1950s, appearing at Norm Bobrow's Colony Club with Broadway "Flower Drum Song" star Pat Suzuki. Through the '60s 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 1970s Paul formed the popular trio BLT with Rolf Johnson and Gail Clements. In the early '80s, he worked in Seattle and Los Angeles with Mark Brown and Garnett 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-1980s found Paul pursuing his advertising/copywriting career in Los Angeles, where he had a long stand at L.A. 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 La Rive Gauche (now Tula's) and worked for years at the College Club. Paul died in late 2011 from prostate cancer.
