Musician and Composer Jeff Greinke Releases New Album

Tucson-based Jeff Greinke has released a new album, Noctilucent. He is a musician, composer, performer, and sound sculptor who is known worldwide for his unique sound. Noctilucent is Jeff's fifth release on the Spotted Peccary label. His previous releases include OTHER WEATHER (SPM-3702), BEFORE SUNRISE (SPM-3701), VIRGA (LSM16), and WINTER LIGHT (LSM09). Jeff's music can also be heard on numerous compilation recordings. Enjoy his SoundQuest Fest (March 28th, 2021) performance on YouTube and visit his website here. Stream the album here.

Greinke's new album Noctilucent (Latin for night shining) takes its name from a rare cloud that glows with wavy striations of light, closer to the stars than any other cloud in the sky. It is from this vantage point that Greinke once again demonstrates his mastery of sonic world-building. Just as the word "noctilucent" inspires an image, each of these nine pieces sets a sonic scene for the listener. The digital album releases today, accessible on various music platforms. Electronic and ambient music fans can enjoy a radio feature of the album this Sunday, March 20th on WXPN's Star's End radio (https://www.starsend.org/update.html).

Through a highly developed process of layering, Jeff composes and performs music rich in texture, depth, mood, and subtle detail. Using various acoustic and electronic instruments, found sounds, and extended studio techniques, Jeff sculpts soundworlds that conjure a strong sense of place, hovering somewhere between the exotic and the familiar. With numerous releases to his credit, Greinke has been an active artist for more than three decades and has composed music for film, video, dance, theater, radio, and art installations.

Drawing from the visual and aural surroundings of his Tucson, Arizona home, Greinke says: "I take long walks in the desert, sometimes at night under a full moon, and am often inspired by what I see, hear, and experience - the texture of the landscape, clouds, the sound of birds and insects, changing light, and different kinds of weather." He crafted Noctilucent by synthesizing his sound manipulations and electronic instruments with the desert he was exploring. When a sound caught his ear, he honed in on it. A bright tone, an eerie chime: at first a lone figure in an unfinished diorama. Then, he layered detail after detail over that initial sound - and set the scene.

"This album verges more toward what I consider to be ambient music than anything I've done in decades," reflects Greinke. "My focus was on creating soundscapes rich in texture, evocative moods, and abundant three-dimensional space. Melody and more conventional timbres such as those created by traditional acoustic instruments, which had become a greater focus of mine in recent prior years, have either retreated further into the background or are absent altogether. All of the music was electronically produced. I found it refreshing and somewhat liberating to go back to exploring sounds using synthesizers to sculpt my soundworlds, with the expansive palette those instruments provide and abundant opportunity to manipulate sounds."

Most of his recent work has employed an orchestral approach, with live musicians playing percussion, strings and woodwinds. This time he has taken another approach, something closer to his small studio beginnings, "All of the music was electronically produced. I found it refreshing and somewhat liberating to go back to exploring sounds using synthesizers to sculpt my soundworlds, with the expansive palette those instruments provide and abundant opportunity to manipulate sounds."

Noctilucent stimulates the listener's imagination, invites visualization. The night is the realm of the unknown, the hidden, when all things are veiled by shade. There is danger and discovery in the unknown, and thus it beguiles. This is night music: nine pieces that strike the balance of tranquility and menace that can only be struck in the dark - a place well beyond anything ambient.

Mastered by Howard Givens, Noctilucent is available in 24-BIT AUDIOPHILE, CD QUALITY LOSSLESS, MP3 and streaming formats. All of the music heard on Noctilucent was composed, arranged, recorded and produced between May and October 2021 by Jeff Greinke at Another Room, Tucson, Arizona, and was mastered by Howard Givens, to be heard by way of Spotted Peccary Music.

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