HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Acoustic Alchemy is an English
smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...
band formed in England in the early 1980s by Nick Webb and Simon James.


1981–1989: Early days

Acoustic Alchemy was formed around the acoustic guitars of Simon James ( nylon string) and Nick Webb ( steel string), often backed up by double bass, percussion, and
string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
the Violettes. The band made two albums that were unprofitable. In the mid-1980s, James left, and in the 1990s he formed Kymaera, a similar, though more
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
oriented band. In 1985, Webb discovered Greg Carmichael, a guitarist with a London pub band called the Holloways (not affiliated with the indie band of the same name), who became James' successor. The new pairing found work as an in-flight band on
Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic A ...
flights to and from the United States. Six weeks after sending demos to MCA, the band was called to record their first album, which was released in 1987 titled ''
Red Dust and Spanish Lace ''Red Dust and Spanish Lace'' was the breakthrough debut album by Acoustic Alchemy from 1987. Comprising nine tracks in total, the album spawned the radio-friendly single "Mr. Chow", which was described as "Chinese reggae". Other highlights inc ...
''. Appearing on the album were Mario Argandoña on percussion and Bert Smaak on drums. The album was the first of many to be recorded at the Hansa Haus Studios, in
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
, Germany, where they met sound engineer Klaus Genuit, who worked on many of the band's albums. Two more albums followed for MCA: '' Natural Elements'' (1988) and ''
Blue Chip Blue chip may refer to: * Blue casino token * Blue chip (stock market), a corporation with a national reputation for quality, reliability, and the ability to operate profitably * Blue chip (sports), collegiate athletes who are targeted by professio ...
'' (1989). The title track from ''Natural Elements'' became the theme music for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
TV programme ''
Gardeners' World ''Gardeners' World'' is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2024 series is the 55th. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its e ...
''.


1990–1998: Mainstream success

Acoustic Alchemy were soon moved to jazz label GRP as MCA bought GRP in February 1990. Six more albums followed, starting with ''
Reference Point Reference point or similar may refer to: Mathematics and science *Reference point (physics), used to define a frame of reference *Reference point, a point within a reference range or reference interval, which is a range of values found in healthy ...
'' (1990), featuring a cover of "
Take Five "Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond in 5 beat per measure, the melody relying on the blues scale, with harmony E-flat minor. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on ''Time Out'' by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. ...
" by Dave Brubeck and '' Back on the Case'' (1991). ''Reference Point'' was nominated for a Grammy Award. Webb uncovered fourteen early tracks from 1982 to 1987 featuring Simon James, which were released on the compilation '' Early Alchemy'' (1992). '' The New Edge'' (1993) and '' Against the Grain'' (1994) followed. For their eighth album, '' Arcanum'' (1996), the band re-recorded some of its popular tracks. The album was recorded in London's
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
with the string section of the London Metropolitan Orchestra. The collection included three new tracks, "Columbia", "Something She Said", and "Chance Meeting". Personnel on the recording was Webb, Carmichael, Sheppard, Murphy and Parsons. It was produced by Aubry "Po" Powell, who worked with Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant. ''
Positive Thinking Positive thinking or Positive Thinking may refer to: Common uses * New Thought, a new religious movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century * Optimism, an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some spe ...
'' (1998) was to be Acoustic Alchemy's last album with original frontman Nick Webb. It was recorded over a week in a large house in
Monkton Combe Monkton Combe is a village and civil parish in north Somerset, England, south of Bath. The parish, which includes the hamlet of Tucking Mill, had a population of 554 in 2013. It was formerly known as Combe, owing to its geography, while it wa ...
, near Bath, England. Recorded by Steve Jones, the musicians were Greg Carmichael (guitar), John Sheppard (drums), and Dennis Murphy (bass). Webb was diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
before working on the album and died on 5 February 1998.


1999: Reform and changes

After Webb's death, Greg Carmichael brought in Miles Gilderdale as his partner, and the band moved label to
Higher Octave Music Higher Octave Music is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions. Since 2013, it is part of Universal Music Group's Capitol Music Group, which is located in Los Angeles. History Higher Octave was acquired by Virgin Records on behalf of EMI in 1 ...
. The debut album on the label, '' The Beautiful Game'', (2000) was more experimental, borrowing from several genres of music. It featured the introduction of Anthony "Fred" White on keyboards. ''
AArt Aart is a Dutch short form of the given name Arnout (English Arnold).Aart
at the
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (previously: Best Pop Instrumental Album) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording arti ...
. '' Radio Contact'' (2003) contained "Little Laughter", the band's first song with a vocal, performed by Jo Harrop. Harrop was a backing vocalist who was discovered by Gilderdale during a session with Latin singer
Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...
. Early in 2006, bassist Frank Felix left the band to concentrate on other projects. The position was filled by two bass players: former
Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Incognito'', a 1915 film featuring Rae Berger * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Dan ...
and Down to the Bone bassist Julian Crampton for UK dates and guitarist Gary Grainger (brother of longtime drummer Greg Grainger) in the U.S. GRP re-released a concert/documentary video of Acoustic Alchemy entitled ''Best Kept Secret'' on 25 July 2006. '' This Way'' (2007) included guest appearances by trumpeter
Rick Braun Rick Braun (born July 6, 1955) is an American smooth jazz trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone and keyboards player, vocalist, composer, and record producer. Early life and education Braun was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and attended Dieruff High ...
and Down to the Bone. ''Roseland'' followed in 2011.


Discography


Singles

* "The Earl of Salisbury's Pavane", GRP Christmas album Vol. 2 (1991)


DVDs

* '' Sounds of St. Lucia: Live'' (2003) * ''Best Kept Secret'' (2006, re-release of VHS from 1998)


Albums


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control GRP Records artists MCA Records artists Higher Octave Music artists English jazz ensembles Musical groups established in the 1980s Smooth jazz ensembles