Artist:Acoustic Alchemy
Song:Fire of the Heart
Album:Back on the Case
Acoustic Alchemy had success in the 90s in the Smooth Jazz market. They were a mix of acoustic guitars and electronic keyboards. They aren't typical Smooth Jazz but they were on a major label and need to be categorized for marketing purposes. The leader of Acoustic Alchemy was Nick Webb. He was born Mar. 14, 1954 in Manchester, England. His main influence was British acoustic jazz guitarist John Martyn. Webb formed Acoustic Alchemy in 1981 with guitarist Simon James. They were backed up by bass, percussion and a string quartet. They self released an album and then James moved to Spain to study flamenco. Webb found guitarist Greg Carmichael playing in a London pub band. They worked as an in flight band for Virgin Atlantic. After sending out demos, they got a record deal with MCA Records. MCA purchased the jazz label GRP in 1990 so Acoustic Alchemy was moved to GRP. Fire of the Heart is from the 1991 album Back on the Case. They did well on the jazz charts. Webb and Carmichael wrote and produced everything. Other musicians are Terry Disley on keyboards, Patrick Bettison on bass, Dan Tomlinson on drums and Mario Argandona on percussion. Trumpeter Randy Brecker appears on a couple of songs. Acoustic Alchemy continued to have success until Webb was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died on Feb. 5, 1998 at age 43. Acoustic Alchemy should have ended. But Carmichael brought in guitarist Miles Gilderdale and kept the Acoustic Alchemy name and signed a new record deal with Higher Octave. They have also recorded for Narada and Heads Up and they currently record for their own label. Acoustic Alchemy last released an album in 2018 They aren't on tour right now so they could be recording a new album. Here's Acoustic Alchemy performing Fire of the Heart on British TV 1992.
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