Jeff Greinke (b. 1959) is an American ambient rock and

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

artist and composer currently based in

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. He is known as one of the pioneers of

dark ambient Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...

music, with his earlier solo albums often compared to works by Robert Rich,

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

, and

Vidna Obmana Vidna Obmana (stylized vidnaObmana on many album covers) is a pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries. The name ''Vidna Obmana'', a phrase in Serbian, literally translates to "optical illusion" and was chosen by Ser ...

. Greinke's approach on his ambient works is to heavily layer, multitrack, and texture soundscapes, effectively using the studio as an instrument. In 1993 Greinke founded the group

LAND Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

, described by

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Dennis Rea as "an odd blend of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

, and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

." LAND released three albums between 1995 and 2001 and also played live extensively, including a 1996 tour of China,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. Greinke is also half of the duo Hana with

Sky Cries Mary Sky Cries Mary is an American psychedelic rock/trance musical group from Seattle, Washington, formed in the late 1980s by Roderick Wolgamott. Early band influences included European industrial music bands such as Einstürzende Neubauten, Coil ...

vocalist Anisa Romero. Hana has released two albums to date. Greinke spent his early life in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, later moving with his family to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He studied meteorology at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, where he began composing and performing music in 1980, then relocated to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in 1982, before eventually settling in Tucson.

Discography

;In

* 1995 : ''

'' (studio album) * 1997 : ''

Archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

'' (studio album) * 2001 : ''

Road Movies A road movie is a film genre, genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the the ...

'' (studio album) ;In Hana * 1999 : ''Hana'' (studio album) * 2001 : ''Omen'' (studio album) ;with Rob Angus * 1984 : ''Night and Fog'' (studio album) * 1992 : ''Crossing Ngoli'' (studio album) ;with Pierre Perret * 1989 : ''Fragment 1'' (studio album) ;with

Art Zoyd Art Zoyd is a French band formed in 1969, mixing free jazz, progressive rock and avant-garde electronica. Gérard Hourbette was the band's director and composer until his death in May 2018. Another key member of the band was Thierry Zaboitzeff, ...

and J.A. Deane * 1990 : ''Art Zoyd – J.A. Deane – J. Greinke'' (studio album) ;with Faith & Disease * 2002 : ''Dream the Red Clouds'' ;Solo albums * 1984 : ''Before the Storm'' (studio album) * 1985 : ''Cities in Fog'' (studio album) * 1986 : ''Over Ruins'' (studio album) * 1987 : ''Places of Motility'' (studio album) * 1987 : ''Moving Climates'' (studio album) * 1988 : ''Timbral Planes'' (studio album) * 1990 : ''Changing Skies'' (studio album) * 1992 : ''Lost Terrain'' (studio album) * 1993 : ''In Another Place'' (studio album) * 1994 : ''Big Weather'' (studio album) * 1997 : ''Cities in Fog 2'' (studio album) * 1998 : ''Swimming'' (studio album) * 1999 : ''Ride'' (studio album) * 2002 : ''Wide View'' (studio album) * 2003 : ''Weather From Another Planet''
(studio album) * 2004 : ''Soundtracks'' (studio album) * 2007 : ''Winter Light'' (studio album) * 2009 : ''Virga'' (studio album) * 2011 : ''Cities In Fog 2'' (studio album) * 2013 : ''Scenes From A Train'' (studio album) * 2018 : ''Before Sunrise'' (studio album) * 2021 : ''Other Weather'' (studio album)

Notes

External links

Official website

Jeff Greinke interview from Chaos Control Digizine (2001)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greinke, Jeff American ambient musicians Land (band) members Musicians from Tucson, Arizona Living people 1959 births