West, Adrienne, vocalist, actress, lyricist, educator; b. Brooklyn, NY, 17 November 1951. She is the daughter of Henrietta West (Beckham), who was born in Brooklyn, NY. 1927. Oscar West, b. Her brother Ronald E. West was born in 1922. 1948. In 1960, she moved to Hollis, Queens NY. In 1980, her parents divorced. Adrienne started piano and classical voice at the age of nine. In her teen years, Adrienne felt the need to mix some of her favorite jazz tracks with her classical roots. She has performed in numerous concerts, jazz festivals, clubs, and on radio and TV extensively throughout Europe, Africa, and other countries (in many musical formations, from duo to large band). Adrienne was a member the Alvin Queen Sextet and performed in numerous concerts throughout Africa. She also directed masterclasses in voice. Some of her most notable performers include: Johnny Griffin and Buddy Tate. She also performs with Jerome Richardson, Marshall Royal. George Robert, Guy Lafitte. Harold Ashby, Bill Saxton. Ted Edwards, Clark Terry. Joe Newman, Benny Bailey. Slide Hampton. Bart van Lier. Benny Powell. Ellen Helmus. She has recorded and performed with the WDR Radio Big Band Koln and the Hessischer Rundfunk Big Band Frankfurt as well as the NDR Radio Big Band Hamburg. Adrienne, who has been on Broadway for five years and was part of the European and World tour companies of “Ain’t Misbehavin'” won the Tony Award, decided to move to Amsterdam with her husband. Her busy schedule includes touring, recording, writing music, and co-creating theatre projects with her husband. Adrienne Cameron and David Cameron co-produced “Royal Court”, a musical tribute to Nat “King’ Cole and “Duke Ellington”. “Evolution”, which is a celebration of gospel music and vocals, was also written and produced by the couple. As a soloist, she completed the two-year European musical theatre tour “George Gershwin : The Musical Gala”. She was also the Bessie Smith role in Mahalia, a musical theatre tribute to Mahalia. For many years, she was a member of the “Four Ladies Of Swing”, which is a concert jazz program. She was invited to perform at Cape Town’s first Davidoff International Vocal Jazz Festival in October 2000. Adrienne was the guest artist at the August 2000 televised evangelical conference “Family Day”, which was attended by approximately 16,000 people in The Netherlands. Adrienne was the soloist for Louis Andriessen’s contemporary classical composition, “Miss is for Man, Music, Mozart” (The M Project). Adrienne also conducts Masterclasses to Jazz Vocalists and Classical students who wish to connect their vocals to Musical Theatre. These Masterclasses have been held at the Swiss Jazz School, Bern, Switzerland, the Universitat Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, and at Conservatorium Enschede, Holland. She currently teaches Jazz Vocal, Musical Theatre Vocal, and Music from The Church. Adrienne presently lives in Amsterdam the Netherlands with her husband American born David Cameron, singer/actor and choreographer/director in musical theater. From www.jazz.com
