LIVE at Piedmont Piano Company
Paula West
Swingin' & Romance
American jazz and cabaret singer Paula West makes her piano store debut, with Adam Shulman (piano), Aaron Germain (bass), and Leon Joyce, Jr. (drums). Paula is known for her rich, powerful contralto voice and for her highly nuanced interpretations of an extraordinarily eclectic selection of songs that range from the Great American songbook to reinterpretations of songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Lou Reed and Johnny Cash. Join us for an intimate evening with this Bay Area treasure!
General Admission
$45 in advance / $50 at the door
We are offering a limited number of seats for this performance. Advance purchase is recommended. Masking is optional.
PAULA WEST
Paula West has performed predominantly in clubs in San Francisco and New York, with additional performances in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and select European cities. For ten years she held a one-month residency at the Empire Plush Room at the York Hotel in San Francisco. She has had recurring engagements at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Mezzrow in New York as well as SF Jazz, The Rrazz Room SF, Feinstein’s at The Nikko, and Yoshi’s in San Francisco. Her nights at the Algonquin Hotel’s famed Oak Room earned her three straight New York Magazine Nightlife Awards as “Outstanding Female Jazz Vocalist.” The New York Times has been particularly vocal in their praise for Ms. West, singling out her “thickly textured voice [that] has ripened into a driving expressive force” and an “ever-deepening feel for the blues.” She has also performed at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis, The White House, and Maison de la Musique in Paris.
ADAM SHULMAN
Adam Shulman has been a staple of the San Francisco Jazz scene since he moved to the city in 2002. Before the move, Adam was a student at UC Santa Cruz where he received a degree in classical performance. While at UCSC he studied jazz piano with Smith Dobson.
Adam can also be seen as a sideman with countless bay area musicians and vocalists such as, Marcus Shelby, Anton Schwartz, Andrew Speight, Erik Jekabson, Ed Reed, Mike Olmos, Gary Brown, Patrick Wolff, John Wiitala, Vince Lateano, Faye Carol, Kellye Gray, Ian Carey, and Mike Zilber among many others. Adam has played as a sideman with internationally renowned artists Stefon Harris, Willie Jones III, Dayna Stephens, Miguel Zenon, Mark Murphy, Alan Harris, Luciana Souza, Paula West, Larry Coryell, Sean Jones, Grant Stewart, John Clayton, Bobby Hutcherson, Bria Skonberg and with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
In addition to his sideman work, Adam is a composer and arranger. He has released 4 albums of original music under his name. He has also done much of the arranging work for the jazz and cabaret singer Paula West. adamshulmanjazz.com
AARON GERMAIN
Aaron Germain began his musical career in Massachusetts, but has lived in the San Francisco bay area since the year 2000. He has always struck a balance between being a consummate sideman and a composer/bandleader. Playing both upright and electric basses, he is adept at diverse genres of music, which reflects in his eclectic compositions.
He has performed with musicians such as Yusef Lateef, Stanley Jordan, Randy Brecker, Bonnie Raitt, Barry Finnerty, Mary Wilson, and Paula West among many others. Touring has allowed him to play venues such the Blue Note (NY), Birdland (NY), The House of Blues (Boston), Ronnie Scott’s (London), Yoshis (SF & Oakland), and other local, national, and international clubs. He has played numerous jazz festivals in the Bay Area, as well as the Drumming in the New Millenium Festival in front of the Great Pyramids of Egypt (December of 1999), Jazz Club Ferrara (Italy), Chorus (Switzerland), Franz K. (Germany), The Bromo Jazz Festival (Indonesia), Ambleside Days (UK), among many others. Aaron has 4 albums of original music, Before You Go, Chance (Origin records), Bell Projections, and Opus. aarongermain.com
LEON JOYCE JR.
Leon Joyce Jr., a native of Meriden, Connecticut, received his musical training through private instruction under John Oblon and Jimmy Rozelle. Although Leon's musical career began in high school, touring with a college theater group performing the Broadway musical "Hair," it really was shaped and nurtured when he joined the Marine Corps in 1976. In the years that followed, he served as a field band musician in Marine Corps Bands all over the U.S. and in Japan. He graduated from the Intermediate Course at the Armed Forces School of Music in 1987. Gunnery Sergeant Joyce reported to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band as Percussion Section Leader in April, 1990. He was promoted to his present rank in August, 1990. In August, 1991, he was appointed to the position of Drum Major. Leon retired from the Marine Corps in June of 1997 from Marine Corps Logistic Base Albany, GA.
As a drummer Leon has worked for a wide variety of top artists including Ramsey Lewis, Nancy Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Teena Marie, Clark Terry, Ellis Marsalis, Barbara Morrison, Patti LaBelle, Mary Wilson, and many more. As a percussionist, he has performed under the direction of Carmen Dragon, Claude T. Smith, Dr. Larry Curtis, Cooleridge Taylor-Perkinson & Bill Russo.
Leon has appeared at many of the top jazz festivals in the U.S., as well as in Europe. He has also led many clinics at various institutions and music programs throughout the U.S. leonjoycejr.com