 He graduated from Cal State Northridge with a degree in Composition and Piano Performance.He then performed as pianist for Maynard Ferguson, Della Reese, Joe Williams and Lionel Hampton, and performed and arranged music for LA swing stalwarts The Speakeasy Spies Big Band and The Jazz Butchers.West, as keyboardist, toured the US and Canada with El Vez in 1998, in addition to playing keyboards on his album Boxing With God which was released on Sympathy for the Record Industry in 2001.