Jazz vocalist Paula West in concert October 10, 2008

San Francisco Performances presents the city's favorite jazz singer Paula West at 8 p.m. Friday, October 10 at the Herbst Theatre, accompanied by the George Mesterhazy Quartet.

West has built her reputation through live concerts, from extended sold-out runs at San Francisco's Plush Room and New York City's Algonquin Hotel, to the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center, a White House salute to writers, and festivals worldwide. When the Plush Room closed last year, she became the first artist to perform at the new Rrazz Room in Hotel Nikko.

West's version of the Great American Songbook goes beyond Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter and the Gershwins. She also draws from favorite contemporary classics by composers from Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. She has transformed such rock songs as the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and "The Beat Goes On" by Sonny & Cher.

It has become a West tradition to include a different Bob Dylan song every year; this season her anthem is the fitting (with the Presidential campaign in high gear) "The Times They Are a-Changin'."

Since moving to San Francisco in 1988, after growing up in a Marine Corps family in San Diego, West has dedicated her life to singing. Early on she worked as a waitress by day and sang in clubs and bars at night, sat in with well-known musicians, and quickly gained a loyal following. Along the way she released three CDs, but her focus has been on live performance.

West's band of the past three years is-finely tuned to her every vocal nuance. Leader and pianist George Mesterhazy accompanied singer Shirley Horn the last three years of her life. Guitarist Ed Cherry spent 13 years with Dizzy Gillespie. Bassist Barak Mori has worked with Peter Cincotti, Eric Reed and Madeline Peyroux. Drummer Tony Reedus has played with Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson, Art Farmer, George Coleman and many others.

$39/$27.

Official Website: http://www.performances.org