(Click on icon at left to stop music) Jim West was literally born to be a musician: his musical heritage stems from his band-leader father and his mother, an accomplished pianist. Unfortunately, the untimely death of his mother, and the Great Depression forced young Jim into a Cleveland orphanage.
Yet music came to the rescue of the young West. The orphanage’s solid music program set him on course for a music career, first singing and playing clarinet, then bass in an army band during World War II. After formal training at Berkeley, Jim eagerly pursued a Jazz career with a variety of bands and combos. West’s musical odyssey culminated with the Dick Lane Quartet, recording three albums and touring the hottest venues of Vegas and Tahoe as an in-demand lounge act, sharing the bill with many great names of the day.
In 1960, West forsook nightly performing for a new life in Dallas with his wife, Liz, raising their children, Steve and Claire. Here, Jim dove into a second career, producing commercials and singing jingles, gaining recognition in radio and recording, eventually earning a place in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. Later Jim’s mellow voice made him a highly sought-after voiceover artist and spokesperson, lending his fluid baritone to commercials and films, even two presidential campaigns. West had always dedicated his talents to various causes on behalf of cancer victims and foster care. With the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, he threw himself into the new challenge, not only against his own affliction but in the battle against Parkinsonism. Jim spearheaded two successful galas benefiting the fight against Parkinson’s, produced a film, “The Story of Hope” and helped create an instructional video about the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, spreading word about the innovative treatment which had helped him overcome his own vocal limitations from the disease.
In 1991, Jim realized a longtime personal dream of recording a solo album of jazz classics entitled “Unfinished Business,” and followed it in 2004 with a second CD, “Finished Business.” Half of the proceeds from both went to support treatment of Parkinson disease and research for a cure. Not one for retirement, Jim’s restless creativity and dogged determination helped him continue recording commercials and narrating children’s stories, despite the advancing effects of Parkinson’s. In 2005, he was a driving force in establishing the Texas Voice Project for Parkinson Disease and devotedly continued his support through his final years. It was Jim’s fervent hope that his work against the disease and his continuing career would be a testimony to the possibilities of living well despite the ravages of this insiduous disease.
Jim West was literally born to be a musician: his musical heritage stems from his band-leader father and his mother, an accomplished pianist. Unfortunately, the untimely death of his mother, and the Great Depression forced young Jim into a Cleveland orphanage.
West’s musical odyssey culminated with the Dick Lane Quartet, recording three albums and touring the hottest venues of Vegas and Tahoe as an in-demand lounge act, sharing the bill with many great names of the day.
West had always dedicated his talents to various causes on behalf of cancer victims and foster care. With the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, he threw himself into the new challenge, not only against his own affliction but in the battle against Parkinsonism. Jim spearheaded two successful galas benefiting the fight against Parkinson’s, produced a film, “The Story of Hope” and helped create an instructional video about the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, spreading word about the innovative treatment which had helped him overcome his own vocal limitations from the disease.
Not one for retirement, Jim’s restless creativity and dogged determination helped him continue recording commercials and narrating children’s stories, despite the advancing effects of Parkinson’s. In 2005, he was a driving force in establishing the Texas Voice Project for Parkinson Disease and devotedly continued his support through his final years. It was Jim’s fervent hope that his work against the disease and his continuing career would be a testimony to the possibilities of living well despite the ravages of this insiduous disease.