Biography
Back troubles frequently afflict percussionists, whether stemming from their seated stance at the kit or the strain of hauling gear from venue to venue. Richie West contends with a further complication tied to his place in California's creative music community, where participants receive scant financial backing. To generate income, the multi-skilled musician launched Book Crazy, a used-book venture in which he holds partial ownership; its stock crowds every available corner of his residence. Volumes are occasionally shifted aside to accommodate drums, stands, or the French horn case, though the reverse arrangement sometimes prevails. When not hauling cartons of books or fielding early-morning queries from devoted collectors, West appears on assorted recordings and live dates. His documented work began amid peripheral projects linked to the college-rock outfit Camper Van Beethoven during the 1980s, notably the offshoot Monks of Doom and the Santa Cruz-based rock big band Wrestling Worms, which often opened for the parent group and is unlikely to be forgotten. The financial realities of that latter project alone may have prompted West to establish his own enterprise; by the close of the decade he had returned to his native Los Angeles, where he maintained ties to the rock milieu through performances and sessions with Mike Watt while also venturing into avant-garde jazz.
His musical path opened, fittingly, on accordion; after all, Anthony Braxton has cited Frankie Yankovic as an early principal influence. West began studying the instrument around age five and continued until he turned ten, apparently adding little beyond command of “The Organ Grinder.” Following several years away from music, at sixteen he was drawn to both the punk and British new-wave movements. “The knowledge that art majors or just plain inept musicians could make music was rather inspiring,” West reports. His initial professional engagement occurred in college at a dance, where he literally launched himself into rock stardom by stage-diving, only to conclude the evening apologizing to a woman struck by his boot. West maintains he earned thirty dollars, an assertion open to doubt given typical Los Angeles-scene economics. By then he was playing bass, an instrument favored by technically limited punk players, in the band Because of Christ. He had progressed considerably by the time he adopted his signature doubling of French horn and drums within Wrestling Worms, an adaptable ensemble whose medleys shifted from James Brown to Neil Young material while incorporating bursts of free jazz. Pianist and arranger Graham Connah proved essential to the group and later emerged as one of the most adaptable figures on the San Francisco jazz scene of the 1990s and afterward. When Camper Van Beethoven founded the Pitch-a-Tent label, Wrestling Worms received an early opportunity to document itself; the self-titled debut stands as the band’s sole recorded testament. West also participated in early Camper Van Beethoven configurations, still largely a local college band, alongside David Lowery, Chris Molla, Chris Pedersen, and Anthony Guess in the short-lived Box o’ Laffs.
Within the Southern California environment West regularly works with figures such as Ventura trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Jeff Kaiser, whose album Nothing Is Not Breath: Music for Double Quartet showcases some of West’s strongest drumming. He maintains an ongoing partnership with scat-singing experimental vocalist Bonnie Barnett and, during the mid-1990s, recorded several albums with the Mooseheart Faith Stellar Groove Band. He also contributed to Mike Watt’s opus Ball-Hog or Tugboat? One notable intersection of the region’s punk and free-jazz circles was the SST Mojack album, which featured West on drums behind guitarist Greg Ginn of Black Flag; many listeners regard the record as foreshadowing Ginn’s later instrumental band Gone. West’s own leadership efforts have included performances at the since-closed Berkeley new-music venue Beanbenders with the Richie West Quartet—reuniting him with Graham Connah on piano plus cellist Elliot Kavee and guitarist Alex Candelaria—as well as duo appearances with guitarist David Kwan. Series coordinator and composer Dan Plonsey characterized West’s percussion approach thus: “His vocabulary derives from traditional jazz drumming, but he has so re-ordered the syntax, that one may get the impression that he is not from this planet at all.” The drummer’s pieces for these occasions have drawn comparisons to Thelonious Monk, although the connection may trace more directly to childhood accordion lessons, and at least stage-diving has ceased. In 2001 West joined an Ojai session co-led by Jeff Kaiser and guitarist Ernesto Diaz-Infante that also included percussionist Brad Dutz, trombonist Scot Ray, and bassist Jim Connolly. The California musician bears no relation to the Richie West responsible for several 7" Euro-disco releases. ~ Eugene Chadbourne
His musical path opened, fittingly, on accordion; after all, Anthony Braxton has cited Frankie Yankovic as an early principal influence. West began studying the instrument around age five and continued until he turned ten, apparently adding little beyond command of “The Organ Grinder.” Following several years away from music, at sixteen he was drawn to both the punk and British new-wave movements. “The knowledge that art majors or just plain inept musicians could make music was rather inspiring,” West reports. His initial professional engagement occurred in college at a dance, where he literally launched himself into rock stardom by stage-diving, only to conclude the evening apologizing to a woman struck by his boot. West maintains he earned thirty dollars, an assertion open to doubt given typical Los Angeles-scene economics. By then he was playing bass, an instrument favored by technically limited punk players, in the band Because of Christ. He had progressed considerably by the time he adopted his signature doubling of French horn and drums within Wrestling Worms, an adaptable ensemble whose medleys shifted from James Brown to Neil Young material while incorporating bursts of free jazz. Pianist and arranger Graham Connah proved essential to the group and later emerged as one of the most adaptable figures on the San Francisco jazz scene of the 1990s and afterward. When Camper Van Beethoven founded the Pitch-a-Tent label, Wrestling Worms received an early opportunity to document itself; the self-titled debut stands as the band’s sole recorded testament. West also participated in early Camper Van Beethoven configurations, still largely a local college band, alongside David Lowery, Chris Molla, Chris Pedersen, and Anthony Guess in the short-lived Box o’ Laffs.
Within the Southern California environment West regularly works with figures such as Ventura trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Jeff Kaiser, whose album Nothing Is Not Breath: Music for Double Quartet showcases some of West’s strongest drumming. He maintains an ongoing partnership with scat-singing experimental vocalist Bonnie Barnett and, during the mid-1990s, recorded several albums with the Mooseheart Faith Stellar Groove Band. He also contributed to Mike Watt’s opus Ball-Hog or Tugboat? One notable intersection of the region’s punk and free-jazz circles was the SST Mojack album, which featured West on drums behind guitarist Greg Ginn of Black Flag; many listeners regard the record as foreshadowing Ginn’s later instrumental band Gone. West’s own leadership efforts have included performances at the since-closed Berkeley new-music venue Beanbenders with the Richie West Quartet—reuniting him with Graham Connah on piano plus cellist Elliot Kavee and guitarist Alex Candelaria—as well as duo appearances with guitarist David Kwan. Series coordinator and composer Dan Plonsey characterized West’s percussion approach thus: “His vocabulary derives from traditional jazz drumming, but he has so re-ordered the syntax, that one may get the impression that he is not from this planet at all.” The drummer’s pieces for these occasions have drawn comparisons to Thelonious Monk, although the connection may trace more directly to childhood accordion lessons, and at least stage-diving has ceased. In 2001 West joined an Ojai session co-led by Jeff Kaiser and guitarist Ernesto Diaz-Infante that also included percussionist Brad Dutz, trombonist Scot Ray, and bassist Jim Connolly. The California musician bears no relation to the Richie West responsible for several 7" Euro-disco releases. ~ Eugene Chadbourne
Singles
