Acoustic Alchemy
Guitarists Greg Carmichael and Miles Gilderdale celebrate a remarkable two decades
plus since 1987’s Red Dust and Spanish Lace established the British ensemble as an
ever evolving, powerhouse force in contemporary jazz. Their thousands of fans around
the world may be feeling nostalgic, but the duo, while keeping their trademark acoustic
guitar synergy front and center, is clearly committed to forging ahead. Carmichael
explains the energy is the result of a natural chemistry he’s developed with Gilderdale
over the years since Gilderdale (formerly a backing guitarist with the band) became
Carmichael’s full partner after the passing of founding member Nick Webb in 1998 and
the release that year of Positive Thinking.
The road to instrumental stardom began when Webb and Carmichael provided the oneoff-in-flight entertainment for a Virgin Airlines England to America flight, in search of an
elusive recording contract; they often liked to say they “played their way to America”.
Signed to the MCA Master Series label by Tony Brown, their popularity took off in
conjunction with the rise of the New Adult Contemporary radio format.
Acoustic Alchemy’s early MCA albums—starting with Red Dust and Spanish Lace and
continuing with 1988’s Natural Elements and 1989’s Blue Chip—were all later rereleased
on GRP. One of the band’s most remarkable recordings was 1996’s live in the
studio date Arcanum, which featured new arrangements of classics, a few new tracks,
and full orchestration. Recorded over three days at Pinewood Film Studios in England
(home to all the James Bond films), the sessions were filmed by director Aubrey Powell
for a television documentary of the band, released on video as Best Kept Secret; GRP
re-released this on DVD in July, 2006 with extra archived live performance and
documentary footage. In 2002, Acoustic Alchemy also released Sounds of St. Lucia, a
CD/DVD live concert package based on a performance recorded by BET television.
Acoustic Alchemy recently released in conjunction with Universal Music The Very Best
of Acoustic Alchemy Vol 2 which they will be promoting throughout 2009.
Acoustic Alchemy
Guitarists Greg Carmichael and Miles Gilderdale celebrate a remarkable two decades
plus since 1987’s Red Dust and Spanish Lace established the British ensemble as an
ever evolving, powerhouse force in contemporary jazz. Their thousands of fans around
the world may be feeling nostalgic, but the duo, while keeping their trademark acoustic
guitar synergy front and center, is clearly committed to forging ahead. Carmichael
explains the energy is the result of a natural chemistry he’s developed with Gilderdale
over the years since Gilderdale (formerly a backing guitarist with the band) became
Carmichael’s full partner after the passing of founding member Nick Webb in 1998 and
the release that year of Positive Thinking.
The road to instrumental stardom began when Webb and Carmichael provided the oneoff-in-flight entertainment for a Virgin Airlines England to America flight, in search of an
elusive recording contract; they often liked to say they “played their way to America”.
Signed to the MCA Master Series label by Tony Brown, their popularity took off in
conjunction with the rise of the New Adult Contemporary radio format.
Acoustic Alchemy’s early MCA albums—starting with Red Dust and Spanish Lace and
continuing with 1988’s Natural Elements and 1989’s Blue Chip—were all later rereleased
on GRP. One of the band’s most remarkable recordings was 1996’s live in the
studio date Arcanum, which featured new arrangements of classics, a few new tracks,
and full orchestration. Recorded over three days at Pinewood Film Studios in England
(home to all the James Bond films), the sessions were filmed by director Aubrey Powell
for a television documentary of the band, released on video as Best Kept Secret; GRP
re-released this on DVD in July, 2006 with extra archived live performance and
documentary footage. In 2002, Acoustic Alchemy also released Sounds of St. Lucia, a
CD/DVD live concert package based on a performance recorded by BET television.
Acoustic Alchemy recently released in conjunction with Universal Music The Very Best
of Acoustic Alchemy Vol 2 which they will be promoting throughout 2009.
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