ROTARY LUNCHEON: Jazz and Cabaret with Paula West and Adam Shulman

American jazz and cabaret singer, Paula West, will share insights into her career, her work in the music industry, and her personal inspirations. Paula and her pianist, Adam Shulman, will also perform at our luncheon.

Paula West is an American jazz and cabaret singer 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 re-interpretations of songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Johnny Cash.

Paula 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, 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 Paula 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 as well as at numerous jazz festivals, including: the Monterey Jazz Festival, Spoleto Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Fest, Big Sur Jazz Festival, Los Gatos Jazz On The Plazz, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, and the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival.

Paula has recorded four albums (three studio and one live), including: Temptation (1997), Restless (1999), Come What May (2001), and Live at Jazz Standard (2012). In February 2013, Ms. West traveled to New York to appear with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to perform in Blood on the Fields for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.

Adam Shulman is a San Francisco Bay Area-based pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He 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 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 four albums of original music under his name. He has also done much of the arranging work for the jazz and cabaret singer, Paula West.

Register here for In Person or Zoom attendance.

For in-person attendees: We welcome all attendees! The in-person registration cost for all adults and children is $45 until 11:59 AM on Friday, September 13, 2024. The meeting cost increases to $60 at noon and beyond on September 13, 2024 and includes any walk-ins on Tuesday, September 17.

The Hotel Nikko holds us to the headcount that we submit on Friday at noon, prior to our Tuesday meeting, whether those registered attend or not. In Rotary spirit, thanks for helping us to maintain a good relationship with our host hotel. 

For attendance via Zoom: For those who wish to participate via Zoom, there is a $15 fee to attend.

Parking: If you are driving to the Hotel Nikko for this meeting, please leave your car with the Hotel Nikko valet. Pick up a validation sticker available at our check-in table. The discounted parking is $25 for three hours.

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