Moraine

Dear friends and admirers of the late Wally Shoup,��

On the occasion of this weekend's Wally Shoup life celebration, Wally’s friends announce the dual release of his two final recordings, "briefcase featuring Wally Shoup" and "Wally Shoup 2x4tet," on Salish Sea-based independent labels Magik Carpet Records and Right Brain Records, respectively. Both albums are now available in physical and digital formats, with the bulk of sales proceeds being donated to Wally’s life partner, Shirley Wong. We hope you’ll consider acquiring one or both of these commemorative albums that preserve Wally's brilliance in late efflorescence. Read on for details...

�briefcase featuring Wally Shoup

Wally Shoup's final recording is a fitting capstone on the intrepid saxophone improviser's musical legacy, capturing Wally in the novel context of intentionally brief "singles" conjured in real time with some of his closest musical friends in mid-pandemic 2020. Recorded and anchored by drummer oLLi kLOMp in the verdant glens of West Seattle, "briefcase" preserves two informal house sessions, one involving electric bassist Dominic Chiaverini and guitarist Bill Horist, the other trumpet player Greg Kelley and guitarist Dennis Rea. Shoup soars throughout, unspooling musical interrogations rooted in a lifetime of artistic and philosophical inquiry. Released by Magik Carpet Records.

* Vinyl LP available at Wally Weekend shows
* Download: https://briefcasefeaturingwallyshoup.bandcamp.com/album/briefcase-featuring-wally-shoup

Wally Shoup 2x4tet

To honor the legacy of their late friend Wally Shoup, six of his longtime musical associates forged a new album from recent recording sessions. 2x4tet combines the final two formal recording sessions instigated and led by Wally, recorded before the pandemic interregnum in 2017 and 2018. The album alternates between an electric quartet (with Bill Horist, Dennis Rea, and Greg Campbell) and an acoustic quartet (with Paul Kemmish, John Seman, and Olli Klomp), showcasing Wally's versatility and the power of innate musical chemistry in a fitting tribute. Released by Right Brain Records.

The electric half of 2x4 is also significant for being the final broadcast of the venerated Sonarchy live radio hour, a joint production of Seattle's Jack Straw Cultural Center and KEXP curated and engineered by Doug Haire every week from 1996 to 2018. Sonarchy provided a vital platform for adventurous Pacific Northwest musicians to air their work before the broader public. The session here took place nearly 22 years to the day after Wally's first Sonarchy broadcast at the series' outset.

* CDs available at Wally Weekend shows
* Download: https://billhoristguitar.bandcamp.com/album/wally-shoup-2x4tet

Seattle-are folks with long memories might recall Axolotl, one of my favorite bands over a long career. A paedomorphic avant-rock band that confounded cochleas back in turn-of-the-millennium Seatown, Axolotl was spearheaded by the dastardly guitar duo of myself and Bill Horist and propelled by bass invader Ryan Berg and (on this release) drum levitator Olli Klomp. "Flight of the Grackle," the band's first-ever release, captures Olli's final gig with the band at Seattle's I-Spy in 2000, a fiery set of Rea and Horist originals. Recorded by James Drage of the SiL2K collective; available now on most streaming/download platforms.

Flight of the Grackle: Live at I-Spy, Seattle 7.24.2000, by Axolotl (Seattle) 7 track album

Fabulous new banner photo by Danette Davis! Many Seattle-area musos will agree that Danette's the best in the biz - check out her work and writings at https://www.danettedavis.com/

Very grateful to _finally_ have some fine photos representing Moraine's current lineup.

Danette Davis Danette Davis, Photographer - I shoot pictures of people, places, objects, musicians, and document moments in time.

To whet appetites for Moraine's 10/25 show at the Royal Room with the superb Spontaneous Rex in their first appearance in years, here's a repost of us performing at Chrome Hearts Factory in Los Angeles some years back. We'll be playing all our latest at the coming show - hope to see your shining visages!

Moraine: "Skein," live from the Chrome Hearts Factory 12.7.12 Moraine performs "Skein" live at the Chrome Hearts Factory in Los Angeles, December 7, 2012. Alicia DeJoie (violin), James DeJoie (woodwinds), Kevin Millard ...