{{Short description|Multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer}} '''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.<ref>[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p2741|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic : Giles Reaves - Charts & Awards]</ref>
== Biography == Reaves got his start in the Nashville country music business in the 1980s, 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 on the MCA Master Series.<ref name=allmusicreaves>[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p2741|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic : Giles Reaves - Biography]</ref> MCA provided little promotion or distribution for these albums, but 1986's ''Wunjo'' received critical acclaim from ''Electronic Musician'' magazine, which named it a top electronic album of all time.<ref name="gilesbio">{{Cite web |url=http://spaceformusic.com/gilesbio.html |title=Space for Music Giles Reaves Biography |access-date=2008-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827161036/http://www.spaceformusic.com/gilesbio.html |archive-date=2008-08-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
''Wunjo'' first appeared on the U.S. public radio show Hearts of Space (HoS) in PGM 113: ''Scorpio'', 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0113|title=PGM 0113 - SCORPIO|website=Hos.com}}</ref> Pieces from Reaves's albums have appeared in 17 HoS programs broadcast during the show's 25-year history. In February 2000, HoS broadcast a retrospective program dedicated to ''Wunjo'' since it was long out of print at that point. (PGM 551: ''Wunjo Revisited'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hos.com/#program/0551|title=Hearts of Space|website=Hos.com}}</ref>
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 because of MCA's original limited distribution.<ref name="gilesbio" /> With the expiration of the MCA contract, Reaves had another album of unpublished music that interested Hill. Reaves signed with Hill's Hearts of Space Records for the release of ''Sea of Glass'', which remained on the new age charts for four months.<ref name="gilesbio" /> 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."<ref>[http://www.sonicimmersion.org/review.php?letter=R&review=71642 Sea of Glass Review], ''Sonic Immersion'', Bert Strolenberg, 2007</ref>
Later in the 1990s, Reaves joined the improvisational space music group Spacecraft,<ref name=allmusicreaves /><ref name=allmusispacecraft>{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p20660|label=Spacecraft}}</ref> described by Star's End radio as "one of the leading voices in the spacemusic community".<ref name=starsend>[http://www.starsend.org/spacecraft.html Profile: Spacecraft], Star's End Radio</ref> Reaves also appeared on Tony Gerber's ''Blue Western Sky'' on the Lektronic Soundscapes label.<ref name="gilesbio" />
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.<ref name="gilesbio" />
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.<ref name=citypaper>[http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=11984 Space for Music Festival offers Nashville fans alternative]{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}, Nashville ''TheCityPaper'']</ref><ref name=spacefestival>{{Cite web |url=http://www.spaceformusic.com/festival2002/ |title=2nd ANNUAL SPACE FOR MUSIC FESTIVAL |access-date=2008-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015131531/http://spaceformusic.com/festival2002/ |archive-date=2008-10-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The space music festival had been founded by fellow Spacecraft band-member Tony Gerber in 1986.<ref>[http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue6/gerber03.html Tony Gerber of Spacecraft (Interview)], Jerry Kranitz, ''Aural Innovations'' #6 (April 1999).</ref>
Reaves also creates 3D renderings that have been used for CD cover artwork.<ref name="gilesbio" />
Beyond space music, Reaves has another career as an engineer and co-producer for the Nashville rock music scene, including work with Dessau (band) and Grinning Plowmen. He also collaborated with Afrikan Dreamland, Bedlam, Lisa Germano, Jaime Kyle, Tom Littlefield, Bill Lloyd, and Lounge Flounders.<ref name="gilesbio" />
== Discography ==
* 1986: ''Wunjo'', MCA Master Series * 1988: ''Nothing Is Lost'', MCA Master Series * 1989: ''Letting Go'', MCA Master Series * 1992: ''Sea of Glass'', Hearts of Space Records * 2001: ''Kaleida Visions'', Space for Music * 2001: ''Sacred Space'', Space for Music
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081209110603/http://spaceformusic.com/gilesreaves.html Space for Music Giles Reaves Homepage] * [{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p2741|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic Giles Reaves - detailed credits list]
== References == {{reflist|1}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reaves, Giles}} Category:Living people Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American audio engineers Category:MCA Records artists Category:American electronic musicians Category:Year of birth missing (living people)