Giles Reaves

Giles Reaves is a multi-instrumentalist sound artist and audio engineer who has composed albums of space music. His most recognized album, "Sea of Glass", 1992, peaked at #11 on the Billboard Top New Age Albums chart. [ [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difrxqq5ldde~T5 Allmusic Giles Reaves - Charts & Awards] ]

Reaves got his start in the Nashville country music business in the 1980's, as an engineer working for producer Marshall Montgomery. MCA producer Tony Brown overheard Reaves' space music improvisations in a studio late one night, and signed him for a contract that resulted in two solo albums and a collaboration with Jon Goin for the MCA Master Series. [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difrxqq5ldde~T0 Allmusic Giles Reaves - Biography] ] MCA provided little promotion or distribution for these albums, but 1986's "Wunjo" received critical acclaim from Electronic Musician magazine, who named it a top electronic album of all time. [http://spaceformusic.com/gilesbio.html Space for Music Giles Reaves Biography] ]

"Wunjo" first appeared on the USA public radio show Hearts of Space in PGM 113: "Scorpio", 1986. [ [http://hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0113 Hearts of Space PGM 113: "Scorpio" - 1986-10-31] ] Pieces from Reaves' albums have appeared in 17 HoS programs broadcast during the show's 25 year history.

In 1992, HoS producer Stephen Hill contacted Reaves to tell him about fans of HoS who still wrote to him wanting copies of "Wunjo", which were unavailable due to MCA's original limited distribution. With the expiration of the MCA contract, Reaves had another album of unpublished music which interested Hill. Reaves signed with Hill's Hearts of Space label for the release of "Sea of Glass", which remained on the new age charts for four months. Music journalist Bert Strolenberg wrote about "Sea of Glass" in 2007, "This classic space music recording by Nashville-based synthesist Giles Reaves is one of those milestones that can stand the test of time for decades, as it still sounds fresh and inspiring after all these years." [ [http://www.sonicimmersion.org/review.php?letter=R&review=71642 Sea of Glass Review] , "Sonic Immersion", Bert Strolenberg, 2007]

Later in the 1990s, Reaves joined the improvisational space music group "Spacecraft", allmusicguide | id=11:3pfyxq95ldse | label=Spacecraft ] described by Star's End radio as "one of the leading voices in the spacemusic community". [http://www.starsend.org/spacecraft.html Profile: Spacecraft] , Star's End Radio] Reaves also appeared on Tony Gerber's, "Blue Western Sky" for the Lektronic Soundscapes label.

In 2001, "Kaleida Visions" was released by the Space for Music team. SFM included Reaves as an original member along with Kirby Shelstad, with whom he also collaborated in live performances and on recordings.

In 2002, with "Spacecraft" and also as a solo artist, he performed at the Nashville "Space for Music" Festival, along with other noted Nashville artists including Aashid Himons & Future Man from Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Robert Rich, the West Tennessee ensemble Zero Ohms, and others. [http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=11984 Space for Music Festival offers Nashville fans alternative] , Nashville "TheCityPaper"] ] [http://www.spaceformusic.com/festival2002/ 2nd ANNUAL SPACE FOR MUSIC FESTIVAL] ] The space music festival had been founded by fellow Spacecraft band-member Tony Gerber in 1986. [http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue6/gerber03.html Tony Gerber of Spacecraft (Interview)] ¸ Jerry Kranitz, "Aural Innovations" #6 (April 1999).]

Reaves also creates 3D renderings that have been used for CD cover artwork.

Beyond space music, Reaves has another career as an engineer and co-producer for the Nashville rock music scene, including work with Dessau and Grinning Plowmen. He also collaborated with Afrikan Dreamland, Bedlam, Lisa Germano, Jaime Kyle, Tom Littlefield, Bill Lloyd, and Lounge Flounders.

Discography

*1986, "Wunjo", MCA Records
*1988, "Nothing Is Lost", MCA Records
*1989, "Letting Go", MCA Records
*1992, "Sea of Glass", Hearts of Space
*2001, "Kaleida Visions", Space for Music
*2001, "Sacred Space"

See also

* Space music
* New Age Music
* Electronic music

External links

* [http://spaceformusic.com/gilesreaves.html Space for Music Giles Reaves Homepage]
* [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difrxqq5ldde~T4 Allmusic Giles Reaves - detailed credits list]

References