Album Notes

Rich West is a drummer, composer, french hornist, bookseller, and writer living in the L.A. area. Interest in playing music blamed on the L.A. punk scene of the late 70s, Zubin Mehta conducting Mahler, and Marxism (both branches). Studied composition, french horn, percussion, and drumset in college while playing in such bands as Camper van Beethoven and the Wrestling Worms. Recent highlights: Week-long Eugene Chadbourne festival in Nancy, France. Joined forces with the likes of Oliver Lake and Jimmy Carl Black, amongst others; Dottie Grossman/Michael Vlatkovich are letting him play with them; Steuart Liebig duetting. Produced Eugene Chadbourne's cd The Hills Have Jazz and Dan Clucas' Exile. Two recorded releases of his own music are on the pfMENTUM label: Heavenly Breakfast, a mixture of compositions and improvisations based on graphic notation; and Bedouin Hornbook, grooves, pieces, and improvisation.

Dabbles in film music and music for dance. Did the soundtrack for The Watershed by Mary Trunk in 2004. His present band, Homunculus, will release a cd on the pfMENTUM label sometime in the near future, whatever that means. Collaboration with Thailand's Eric Curkendall on a poetry/music project (each doing both), of which one could dance, meditate, or argue over.