William (Bill) Alan West |
| Posted 2016-01-20 by Sharla |
| The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona, Sunday, January 17, 2016 William (Bill) Alan West Jazz trumpeter William "Bill" Alan West, 88, of Prescott Valley, Arizona passed away quietly at home on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, with family and friends at his side. He was born on Nov. 11, 1927, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the second son of Clarence Elwin West Jr. and Anna Rebecca West (née Setbacken). By high school, Bill was leading his own dance band. At age 17, he left for New York City, to soak in the music of the golden age of 52nd Street jazz. Bill was drafted into the U.S. Army in April of 1946 and served primarily in the Second Group Special Services Dance Band at Camp Lee, Virginia. By age 20, he was back in Minneapolis, leading the Bill West Orchestra. He graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1949 with a Business Administration degree in Advertising. Bill relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1950s with his first wife, Beatrice Ann West (née Kimm). In 1959, he founded West Associates, the award-winning advertising agency, which he owned and directed for 33 years. After retirement, he moved to Sedona, Arizona with his third wife, Dee Heath (née Williams); they relocated to Prescott Valley in 1999. Bill was a well-loved trumpeter and flugelhorn player in the northern Arizona jazz and concert band community. He is perhaps best remembered for leading the Geritol Hipsters, northern Arizona's premier Dixieland band. He led several of his own eponymously named bands, and was a venerable member of many area bands, including the Yavapai College Big Band, the Central Arizona Concert Band, the Sentimental Journey Big Band, the Swing Shift Big Band, the Goodwin Street Gang, the West Peterson Band, the John Hafer Octet, the Prescott Jazz Summit All-Star Big Band and many others. He taught improv at Northwest Big Band week in Port Townsend, Wash. for many years. Bill was a fixture of the Sunday night music sessions at the El Gato Azul restaurant in Prescott. His quartet was a familiar sound heard on the Prescott town square every summer. He is survived by his daughters, Kristina West of Burbank, California and Kathleen Marshall of Franklin, North Carolina; by his stepson Randy Cross and his daughter-in-law Kathy Cross of Bellingham, Washington; by his granddaughter, Erin Cross of Seattle, Washington; by his companion and dear friend, Cathy Morrell of Sun City, Arizona; and by many devoted friends and fellow musicians. A memorial celebration will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in the Theatre Building (#15) of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Prescott, Arizona. Columbarium interment will be at the Prescott National Cemetery. Information provided by survivors. See Also: Find A Grave |
Note: These obituaries are transcribed as published and are submitted by volunteers who have no connection to the families. They do not write the obituaries and have no further information other than what is posted within the obituaries. We do not do personal research. For this you would have to find a volunteer who does this or hire a professional researcher.
Questions About This Project?