Wally Shoup

[Shannon Dickey]

Just been playing a lot of Wally's lps and CDs. Wondering if any other board members dig him?.......

[Guest Bill Barton]

Yes, indeed! The Levitation Shuffle CD on Clean Feed with Gust Burns, Reuben Radding and Greg Campbell was on my 2007 Top Ten list. I recently heard this group in performance and they were smokin'. This concert was the one I voted for in the Earshot Golden Ear Awards last month as concert of the year for 2007.

Another relatively recent addition to the stacks is the LP only release on the Strange Attractions label that features Wally along with Campbell and Nels Cline, Suite: Bittersweet. It's labeled "High Fidelity" too

Wally's trio with Burns and drummer/percussionist/vibraphonist Bob Rees also plays quite often in the Seattle area and is well worth checking out. Burns is one of the organizers of the Seattle Improvised Music Festival, studied with Paul Plimley, and is a remarkable pianist.

Shoup has a singular sound on alto sax, steeped in the blues as well as the Fire Music and free improv streams, and can rattle your molars in the lower registers. He's a *great* player without question.