OCT 13 | Paula West: Breathing Democracy
Oct 13, 2024
Miner Auditorium
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This page is an archive of a past production
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Original show description below.
As the presidential election looms, the artist JazzTimes calls “the finest jazz-cabaret singer around” brings her exploration of the political moods of America through the years back for a timely encore, focusing on the songs of Simon and Garfunkel, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Woody Guthrie.
The San Francisco jazz treasure is not the kind of singer who uses her voice like an instrument, improvising long scat solos. West prefers to work around the edges of a melody, stretching a word here or clipping a phrase there so that each piece sounds as if it was written with her voice in mind.
When not enthralling Bay Area audiences, West has become a Manhattan fixture, regularly earning New York Nightlife Awards for “Outstanding Female Jazz Vocalist.” In 2013, trumpet luminary Wynton Marsalis recruited her to sing the lead role in the reprise of his Pulitzer Prize-winning opus Blood On the Fields.
Adding to her allure is West’s reputation as a song sleuth who has uncovered startlingly effective jazz vehicles amidst the work of Sonny Bono, Jimmy Webb and the Rolling Stones. At this time of political upheaval and division, Paula West looks back to these uniquely American expressions of passion and protest, showing them to be as relevant today as the day they were written.
“The finest jazz-cabaret singer around,” (JazzTimes) West explores American political music by Simon and Garfunkel, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Woody Guthrie.
No singer can be all things to all people...But Ms. West comes as close as any jazz singer nowadays to carrying off that impossible feat.
the new york times
No singer can be all things to all people...But Ms. West comes as close as any jazz singer nowadays to carrying off that impossible feat.
the new york times
Watch & Listen
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Paula West
Like A Rolling Stone
Paula West
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