Wally Shoup (August 9, 1944–March 5, 2024) was an American jazz

alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller tha ...

, painter, and author. Based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, since 1985, Shoup was a mainstay of that city's

improvised music Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous ...

scene. ''

Seattle Metropolitan ''Seattle Metropolitan'', or ''Seattle Met'', is a monthly city magazine covering Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the ...

'' named him one of the 50 most influential musicians in that city's history.Thomas May
Wally Shoup
''Seattle Metropolitan'', December 2008, p. 84.

Biography

Early life

Born in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and raised in Charlotte,Wally Shoup
Jack Straw Foundation. Notes for a Composer Spotlight presentation March 14, 2007. Accessed online 2009-08-03. Shoup initially worked as a schoolteacher.Andrew Bartlett, "Wally Shoup", p. 230–31 in James Bush, ''Encyclopedia of Northwest Music: From Classical Recordings to Classic Rock Performances, Your Guide to the Best of the Region'' (1999), Sasquatch Books. . He moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, in the late 1960s,Jason Heller
Get in the Vamp
''Westword'' (Denver, Colorado), 2003-05-22. Accessed online 2009-08-19. then to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in 1970, where he lived in

Manitou Springs Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded for its natural mineral springs. The downtown area continues to be of interest to traveler ...

and later

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

Views on Music

By his own account, Shoup "grew up listening to Black music in the South, the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and jazz and R&B," and was "introduced to free jazz in the late '60s… in Atlanta.". Although his "voice is definitely influenced by African-American music" he "kind of felt like free jazz was the domain of Black musicians." Hearing Britain's Music Improvisation Company, "he simultaneously discovered

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

and his calling as a musician,"Biography
Wally Shoup official site at speakeasy.org. Accessed online 2009-09-07. "It wasn't jazz-based," he would say in 2003." They were trying to find some new ways of improvising. I realized ''that'' was the kind of music I wanted to know about, and the only way I could know more about it was by playing it."

Music career

While in Colorado, Shoup had a three-hour weekly show on

KRCC KRCC (91.5 FM) is a public radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is owned by Colorado College and operated by Colorado Public Radio. KRCC broadcasts non-commercial news/talk programming, mostly from National Public Radio (NPR) an ...

, the

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...

radio station, where, by Jason Heller's account (2003), he played jazz and experimental music from his own extensive collection and "began using the studio itself as an instrument, manipulating multiple turntables and mixing in guest musicians who would improvise over the records…" Describing a band he organized during this period, the Creative Music Ensemble (active circa 1973–74), Shoup later said, "I was still developing some chops on the sax, so I wasn't a player yet; I was just the instigator. I had them play a number of gigs, and it just outraged and pissed people off. … People didn't know what to make of it. It was kind of like

Mahavishnu Mahavishnu () is an aspect of Vishnu, the principal deity in Vaishnavism. In his capacity as Mahavishnu, the deity is known as the Supreme Purusha, the absolute protector and sustainer of the universe, the one who is beyond human comprehensio ...

meets

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...

or something." In 1975, he became an active organizer, deejay, and player of music merging

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

, free improvisation, and

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

. After deciding he was ready to play the saxophone as a performer, he formed his first trio, in Colorado, with Ross Rabin and Keith Gardner, incorporating

contact microphone A contact microphone is a form of microphone that senses audio vibrations through contact with solid objects. Unlike normal air microphones, contact microphones are almost completely insensitive to air vibrations but transduce only structure-bor ...

s on metal objects to create "noisescapes." He released his first album, ''Scree-Run Waltz,'' in 1981. In 1983, he moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, where he performed with Trans Duo (

Davey Williams David Carlous Williams (November 2, 1927 – August 17, 2009) was an American professional baseball player and coach. During his Major League Baseball career, spent entirely with the New York Giants of the National League, the second baseman app ...

and LaDonna Smith), wrote for the ''Improvisor'' magazine, and worked with dancer Mary Horn, with whom he toured Europe in 1985, after which he moved to Seattle. Shortly after arriving in Seattle, Shoup became an early organizer of that city's Improvised Music Festival, which began that year and which became the United States' longest-running improvised music festival. Among the groups he performed with were the New Art Orchestra and Catabatics. In 2010 he participated in and helped organize the 25th anniversary Seattle Improvised Music Festival. In 1994, he and

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Brent Arnold formed Project W, who would eventually open for

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

in Seattle in 1998. Writing in 1999, Andrew Bartlett described this as "Shoup's most vaunted ensemble… whose debut CD of the same name on the Apraxia label has become the stuff of legend." Bartlett singled out their emphasis on relatively short pieces as unusual for free improvisors. Shoup recorded two

CDs CDS, CDs, Cds, etc. may refer to: Finance * Canadian Depository for Securities, Canadian post-trade financial services company * Certificate of deposit (CDs) * Counterfeit Deterrence System, developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence ...

with

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

of Sonic Youth ''Hurricane Floyd'' (Subliminal, 2000) and ''Live at Tonic'' (Leo Records, 2003) with

Paul Flaherty Paul Flaherty may refer to: * Paul Flaherty (computer scientist) * Paul Flaherty (musician) * Paul Flaherty (director) {{hndis, Flaherty, Paul ...

and

Chris Corsano Chris Corsano is an American improviser based in Chicago, Illinois. Early life Corsano picked up the drums after seeing his half-brother Tony playing. Corsano's first drum set had Animal from the Muppets on the bass, and he largely is self-ta ...

. He also made two recordings with

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

: ''Immolation/Immersion'' (CD, 2005) and ''Suite: Bittersweet'' (LP, 2007), both on Strange Attractors Audio House.

Wally Shoup Trio

Shoup formed the Wally Shoup Trio in 2001 with bassist Reuben Radding and drummer Bob Rees. Speaking of his work in 2003, Shoup said, "I'm not quite as abstract as I used to be. On my new stuff, I'll play motifs and melodies and occasionally even a tune … I see noise as just another element to play with, just another texture or color or detail." Other projects included Spider Trio (with Jeffery Taylor and Dave Abramson) and the Wally Shoup Quartet (with Gust Burns, Bob Rees, and Paul Kikuchi). Shoup performed at the

Vancouver Jazz Festival The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is a jazz festival held every summer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The festival grew out of a local jazz scene that centred on Vancouver Co-op Radio (CFRO-FM), a community radio station, in the ...

(

Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...

), Earshot Jazz Festival (Seattle), Le Weekend (Scotland), Birmingham Improvised Music Festival (

), Seattle Improvised Music Festival, and Open-Circuit Interact (Belgium). In 2007 he received a City of Seattle Arts grant to work on improvised music, and in 2009 ''Seattle Metropolitan Magazine'' named him one of the 50 most influential musicians in that city's history.

Partial discography

* ''Subduction Zone'' (Nunatak, 2012) - trio with Dennis Rea and Tom Zgonc * ''The Levitation Shuffle'' (Clean Feed Records, 2007) - quartet with Reuben Radding, Greg Campbell, and Gust Burns * ''Bounced Check'' (Tyyfus Records, LP, 2007) - trio with Chris Corsano and Paul Flaherty * ''Suite: Bittersweet'' (Strange Attractors Audio House, LP, 2007) - trio with Nels Cline and Greg Campbell * ''Blue Purge'' (Leo Records, CD, 2004) - trio with Reuben Radding and Bob Rees * ''Confluxus'' (Leo Records, CD, 2004) - trio with Toshi Makihara and Brent Arnold * ''Live at Tonic'' (Leo Records, CD, 2003) - quartet with Thurston Moore, Paul Flaherty, and Chris Corsano * ''Fusillades and Lamentations'' (Leo Records, CD, 2003) - trio with Reuben Radding and Bob Rees * ''Stackpole'' (First World, CD, 2001) - quartet led and recorded by Dennis Rea * ''Hurricane Floyd'' (Sublingual, CD, 2000) - live recording with Thurston Moore and Toshi Makihara * ''Project W'' (Apraxia, CD, 1994) - trio with Brent Arnold and Ed Pias * ''Scree-Run Waltz'' (Too Sound, LP, 1981) - duo with Ross Rabin A more complete discography can be found a
Recordings by Wally Shoup
on Shoup's official site.

Publications

* ''Music As Adventure: The Collected Writings of Wally Shoup'' (2011)
Nine Muses Books

Notes

External links

*
Seattle Improvised Music

Seattle Improvised Music Festival, 2006.
An hour-long set of free improvisation by Shoup
recorded live on

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Cent ...

's Sonarchy Radio. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shoup, Wally Free jazz saxophonists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Musicians from Seattle 1944 births Living people Musicians from Charlotte, North Carolina People from Manitou Springs, Colorado Musicians from Colorado Springs, Colorado 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from North Carolina Jazz musicians from Colorado 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Clean Feed Records artists