Back in the late '90s, I saw Jeff Greinke perform at the Speakeasy Cafe. I'd scoped out his bank of keyboards beforehand, wondering if he would use the sounds that make me hate synthesizers: cheesy string pads, a huffing pan flute, and the "space reverb" preset which, under one guise or another, has been loaded onto every synth made since 1982. To my delight, Greinke demolished my expectations. A cult figure in ambient music since his 1985 LP, Cities in Fog, Greinke summoned forth a shimmering sonic landscape of lonely drones and distant wails, as if it were possible to hear the aural equivalent of an old ethnographic documentary shot on grainy film stock.
Very much the performer, Greinke is not just content to press a button and let things happen. "I'm concerned with the 'live' aspect of the music, so I set up situations that require me to be fully involved with that process," he says. "I don't use any pre-recorded tapes, CDs, or pre-programmed sequencing. Moving around between my keyboards and acoustic instruments, and by using long delay processors to capture my playing, I'm able to generate multiple soundstreams simultaneously. Things can get rather precarious at times, and I like that. It keeps me active onstage, and there's a tension for me which I hope translates to the audience."
Stranger Personals
For this show, the second in Earshot Jazz's ongoing Voice and Vision series, held every second Thursday through November at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Greinke promises more "sonic landscapes that conjure a strong sense of place hovering somewhere between the exotic and the familiar." It should be a great trip. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI
Jeff Greinke performs Thurs Aug 8 at 7 pm, Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E Prospect at Volunteer Park, 547-6763, $7.
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (0)