Acoustic Alchemy

Acoustic Alchemy has never accepted a place in one genre. The boundary-pushing instrumental group has been challenging audiences for nearly four decades with its blend of jazz, classical, flamenco and other world music, rock and New Age. The group has received three Grammy nominations, but also has developed a reputation as one of the most exciting live bands around. Their mission? Reaching the broadest audience by taking the potential of instrumental music as far as they can.

For the last decade or so, the band lineup has been made up of Greg Carmichael in nylon guitar, Miles Gilderdale on steel string acoustic and electric guitars, Fred White on keyboards and a powerful rhythm section featuring Greg Grainger on drums and his brother Gary on bass.

Acoustic Alchemy began in London in 1981 by guitarist Nick Webb and nylon guitarist Simon James. Webb had studied jazz at Leeds College of Music in England. When the two parted ways, Webb joined with Greg Carmichael, a classically trained guitarist, and the duo found work with Virgin Airlines, providing in-flight music on trans-Atlantic flights. They sent a demo to MCA and six weeks later were signed to a contract. Their first album, Red Dust and Spanish Lace, was released in 1987 and they went on to release several more albums with MCA. In 1990, the duo signed with jazz label GRP and the album, Reference Point, earned them their first Grammy nod for Best New Age Performance for the track “Caravan of Dreams.” Five more albums followed, including 1996’s Arcanum, which garnered an Emmy nod for Best New Age Album.

Webb died in 1998 and Carmichael revamped the band, bringing in Gilderdale and White. Their album AArt was released in 2001 and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In 2011, the band celebrated its 30^th anniversary with Roseland, which reached No. 6 on the jazz albums chart, and 2018’s 33 1/3 cracked the Top Ten of Billboards’ Jazz albums chart. The band had been recognized in a variety of genres, doing exactly what they had set out to do. Throughout its creative life, the band has defied categorization. In an interview, Carmichael described why the name Acoustic Alchemy fit the band.

“It’s a good name,” he said. “It says we’re acoustic, although we’re not strictly now because you couldn’t be heard. In essence, though, the identity is two acoustic guitars. Acoustic Alchemy is not about a person, it’s about a band. Alchemy means a blend, a combination of lots of different styles. Alchemy suits us. It implies a magical blend.”

This “G Force” of Greg Carmichael, Gilderdale, Grainger, Grainger (and White) has been defying gravity for years. Come along for the ride.