Pianist/Composer Bobby West  Releases Debut Album Leimert Park After Dark

LOS ANGELES - Aug. 11, 2021 - PRLog -- Have you heard the story of local jazz musicians who tirelessly perform in their hometowns for years, known only to a select few, leave their homes for foreign lands for more opportunities and often, more appreciation, and then return home to a local scene that is now more appreciative of his or her musical gifts? This scenario rings true for 65-year old, Los Angeles-based pianist/composer Bobby West, who returned home to record his debut album, Leimert Park After Dark, available now on Soulville Sound Recordings.

Since the 70s, Bobby has been a mainstay on LA's jazz scene, as a sideman and leader, and was well-respected among his fellow musicians, but not known to the general public. West left his hometown and lived and performed in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe for decades, and would come back home for brief periods. On a recent visit to LA, he fulfilled a life-long dream and completed Leimert Park After Dark, his tribute to the vibrant cultural and artistic heart of Los Angeles' African-American community, and astonishingly, his first recording as a leader.

Like many African-Americans, West's LA story is a story of The Great Migration, born on June 4, 1956 in Louisiana. His family came to Los Angeles when he five and he started playing piano at seven.  When he attended Jefferson High School, he was fortunate to find a willing and caring teacher named Patsy Payne. Another beloved mentor was the legendary pianist/composer/activist Horace Tapscott.

"Horace told me about music that was Black, proud, powerful," West says. "And it was unlike anything I'd ever heard. He actually was the first person to associate this music, jazz, as something that could make you a man. I heard this manhood Horace was talking about in the music. I heard the struggles, the pain, the ferocity. He told me that the music is not frivolous. It's serious, man, and it's spiritual."

West traveled back to Louisiana and graduated from Grambling State University and with a degree in composition in 1977, took compositional studies at Louisiana State University, and lived in Baton Rouge and New Orleans for two years, and led a combo that featured a teenaged Branford Marsalis, before returning to Los Angeles in 1980. There he would gig around town with local musicians including vocalist Dwight Trible, the late bassist James Leary, flutist Cyril Carr and led his own ensembles. West left home in 1993 and worked and lived in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe, most recently in Taiwan, where he spent much of the pandemic, and plans to reside there until he returns to Los Angeles in January 2022.

Leimert Park After Dark is available now on all streaming platforms and at www.soulvillesoundrecordings.com