(b. 1944, Charlotte, N.C.)
Wally Shoup grew up in the
South (Charlotte, N.C) in the 1950Õs and was heavily influenced by Black Music
of that era: blues, R Ôn B, Soul and, later, in the 60Õs, free jazz. After moving to Colorado in 1970, and
hearing BritainÕs groundbreaking Music Improvisation Company, he simultaneously discovered free improvisation and
his calling as a musician.
After a period of intense
study and obsessive listening, he became active in 1975 as an organizer, D.J,
and player of free music – merging blues, free jazz, free improvisation
and noise into a highly personal and idiosyncratic style.
His released his first LP Scree-Run
Waltz in 1981, making it one of
the first independently produced documents of American free improvisation.
He then moved to Birmingham,
Ala to become involved with its thriving improvisation scene, which revolved
around the Trans Duo of Davey
Williams and La Donna Smith. He performed w/Trans, wrote for the Improvisor magazine and worked with dancer, Mary Horn, in a
multi-disciplinary duo, culminating in a European tour in 1985.
Wally moved to Seattle in
1985 and became a central figure in the improvisational world. He performed with the New Art Orchestra,
Catabatics and took part in the 1st Seattle Improvised Music
Festival. Since that time, he has
helped guide that festival to its present-day status as the longest running
improvised music festival in America.
A compelling and original
saxophonist, Wally is featured in the Encyclopedia of Northwest Music, noted for his ability to Òdraw crowds from diverse
audiences due to his fierce intensity and explorative saxophone performances.Ó
He formed Project W in 1994 with cellist, Brent Arnold, and released the
CD Project W (Apraxia) in 1996 (named a top ten release in Cadence Magazine), the LP Obliquity (Shrat), which documented their opening set for Sonic Youth in 1998 and Confluxus (Leo) w/drummer, Toshi Makihara, in 2004.
His has had notable collaborations
with electric guitarists:
- Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth) has yielded three CDÕs: Hurricane
Floyd (Subliminal) Live at Tonic((Leo Records) and Roadhouse Sessions –
Vol 1 (Columbia-Japan).
- Nels Cline (Wilco) has been documented on Immolation/Immersion (CD),and Suite: Bittersweet (LP), both on Strange Attractors Audio House
- Bill Horist in the group Ghidra which has two
documents: Strawberry
Skinflint and The Sound of
Speed, both on Sol-Disk
- Dennis Rea in the group Stackpole which released Stackpole
(First World)
He formed the Wally Shoup
Trio in 2001 w/bassist Reuben Radding
and drummer Bob Rees. The
group played to great acclaim in
Seattle and released Fusillades and Lamentations (2003)
and Blue Purge (2004) on
the London-based Leo Records label.
His current projects include Spider Trio (w/Jeffery Taylor
and Dave Abramson) and the Wally Shoup Quartet (w/Gust Burns, Bob Rees and Paul
Kikuchi).
Wally has performed at
numerous festivals, including the Vancouver Jazz Festival, Earshot Jazz
Festival, Le Weekend (Scotland), Birmingham (Ala) Improvised Music Festival,
Seattle Festival of Improvised Music and Open-Circuit Interact (Belgium)
Among honors he has received: a prestigious City of Seattle Arts grant in 2007 to work on improvised music and and
recognition by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine in 2009 as one of Seattle's 50
Most Influential Musicians.
In 2010 he will participate
in and help organize the 25th Anniversary of the Seattle Improvised Music
Festival, the longest running Festival of its kind in North America.
Additionally, Wally is a
painter of repute in the ÒOutsider ArtÓ circles and is represented in Seattle
by the Garde-Rail Gallery
(http://www.garde-rail.com/artist/wally.html). His textural, expressive art merges the sophisticated with
the primitive in much the same way as his music, and his art graces a number of
his record releases.
He also has written numerous
articles and reviews of music. His
writing has appeared in the Improvisor, Art Papers, The Stranger, Earshot
Jazz Magazine, Perfect Sound Forever,
and on Amazon.com, where he is an
editorial reviewer.
Further info can be gotten at
http://www.speakeasy.org/wallyshp