Wally Schnalle Faculty Profile

Wally Schnalle has been playing drums almost 50 years and has a long history of working with San Jose Jazz. For the past 25 years he’s been sharing his knowledge and experience as a teacher, bandleader, recording artist, and sideman to Phil Woods, Eddie Daniels, Ernie Watts, Med Flory, Dave Pell, Bill Henderson, Etienne Charles, Mary Wilson as well as many great Bay Area bands. He performs and teaches in many genres, including Latin, funk, and rock and blues, but the bulk of his work is in Jazz and fusion. His own ensembles have performed widely, including gigs at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, Monterey Jazz Festival, Hong Kong Jazz Festival, Beishan China Jazz Festival , Portland Jazz Festival and San Francisco’s Jazz in the City series. Schnalle has ten CDs of original compositions in release and was also awarded a compositional commission from the Santa Clara University School of Music and Dance as well as an Artist In Residence Grant fro The California Arts Council. In addition, he has worked with DRUM! Magazine as Music Editor at large and columnist for over 20 years. Wally earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Jazz Performance at San Jose State University. Schnalle uses and endorses Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Earthworks Microphones.