Customer Reviews

Acoustic Alchemy: Sounds of St. Lucia

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a longtime AA fan I was waiting for years for a DVD to be published, and the result definitely lives up to my expectations.
Excellent selection of tracks creates a mix of classics from the Nick Webb period (e.g. Cool as a Rule, Lazeez) and selections from the band's recent albums (Beautiful Game and AArt).
Most song performances are excellent, only track I would skip is the Jazz-fusion interpretation of `The Panama Cat' which can hardly be regarded 'acoustic'. The players are all superb: Greg is always at his best, and Gilderdale is versatile and brings his own personality into the tunes - even the classic ones. His use of electric guitar is limited enough such that it does not break the 'acoustic' brand yet still adds color in couple of tracks. Sound quality is excellent even though Gilderdale's steel string guitar seems faded at times. The minimum lineup (5 in total) manages to give a rich musical spectrum - mainly due to keyboardist Tony White and despite the fact that an additional percussionist and sax/trumpet player would have contributed a lot of color to the overall sound.
Only reason this is a 4 star ranking is due to the long and sometimes embarrassing verbal intermissions between the songs. These come out very annoying and cut the song sequence such that you want to 'skip' to the next track using your DVD remote control. AA is pure music and if you want to hear them talk there is a good interview bonus section added to the DVD. Apart from that - it's great music from great musicians.
AA are still one of the best musical forms you can hear time and again and find new layers and depths each time.

After many years of waiting Acoustic Alchemy finally give fans something good to watch as well as to listen to. The DVD is one of the best quality music DVDs I,ve ever seen, superb picture clarity and great sound, a bit of a shame it's only available in Region 1 particularly as they are a British band, but then again lots of us have multiregion players so all is not lost.
Anyway highly recommended for smooth jazz lovers on both sides of the pond.

Acoustic Alchemy fans, or smooth jazz jans for that matter, will throughly enjoy this new music DVD just released. This group has kept music fans spellbound for nearly 15 years, and this 2002 concert disk certainly won't disappoint. The songs are great - some classic Alchemy, others newer. Greg Carmichael is his usually superb guitarist, and Frank Felix plays the bass guitar like no other jazz performer. The concert was recorded live, and it brings back memories of past shows the boys have done in the U.S. The cameras get nice closeups of the group as it weaves its way through one song after another. It's definitely the gem of my DVD collection!

the sound quality of this DVD is excellent. The lighting quality could have been better. A must have for all smooth Jazz collectors.

I was actually intending to buy the cd version and not the dvd which I ordered by mistake. Upon watching the performance I compared it to the other AA performances that I have seen in the past. There seems to be something missing here performance wise...I dont know if the band, knowing that they were being filmed seemed a bit wooden and slightly awakward but I have seen them more lively at smaller more intimate venues. One element that I feel was missing...A view of the fan base for this group that is quite eclectic and very sophisticated. Musically they turn in a nice performance. I have always admired the arranging talents of this group and credit them for being quite innovative with regard to their sound. However...Substituting the keyboard synthisizer for the horns are a bit awakward sounding for the true fan. All in all a nice meld of the studio polish and performance licks to bring one a enjoyable evening on the couch seeing a band the all too often is quite difficult to see live as they seemed to be booked predominately at festivals (catalina island) and wineries in California and out of the way blues clubs on a Wednesday night in the middle of the busiest week of ones life. I would like to stress that if you do get to see them live, especially where they are the only act (avoid Catalina Island, it is a tremendous waste of time and money (sorry Art) By all means do...The band normally sits around afterwards greets the fans and in my case allowed me to jam with them a time or two. Give it a buy!

We read the other reviews before we purchased this DVD. They caused us some concern that the DVD would be just so-so. Comments like "the band ... seemed a bit wooden and slightly awakward" and "The lighting is too bright. The stage is too small. The director of this video ... manages to capture all the wrong angels... a microphone was blocking the guitarist's face through out the whole concert."

Then we purchased this DVD and watched it. This DVD is simply awesome! We would buy another Acoustic Alchemy DVD in an instant if there were one available. We didn't notice any of the issues that the earlier reviewers pointed out. We have watched the DVD twice so far since we bought it 2 months ago. The 2nd viewing was even better than the first! This DVD simply puts you there with the guys in the middle of a fantastic performance.

Years later...
We continue to watch this DVD again and again. This DVD just keeps growing on you. Really a great experience. I've never seem Acoustic Alchemy live, but now it's on my list of MUST-DO... Maybe this fall in Cleveland...

The musical content of this DVD is excellent!! The group is Fantastic! But there is one camera angle that I found very annoying..where the microphone & stand is covering Greg Carmichael's face most of the time, the same camera angle which the lighting is too bright to view the band..it destroys the mood of the song.
But Overall...this DVD is not Bad...Highly recommended to all Acoustic Alchemy Fan.

Acoustic Alchemy is a smooth jazz-y sort of Brit group. They are also superb musicians, as tight as a corn-roll. this album, videoed in St. Lucia, captures an absolutely stunning performance given under the stars in the Caribbean some few years ago.
AA has always combined steel and nylon strung guitars as well as anyone, but on this one, a newer member of the duo, Miles Gilleland, also stuns with the use of a Fender Stratocaster. He can play any guitar, obviously.
This, then is a rave review.

The quintessential Alchemy! Fantastic, great picture great sound. If this type of music is your cup of tea this is some of the finest taste you could want. BUY IT!

OK I'll admit it, I am prejudiced. I am a hard core acoustic alchemy fan and own every one of their cd's. Their music is one of a kind. No boredome because of repetetive technique and style. The pure genius of Nick Webb's contribution to music will sooth and enlighten, "every feature made perfectly clear, so simple..." Upon his passing the torch was passed to Miles Gilderdale. The trend continued, The Beautiful Game, AART, Radio Contact and American/English. Little Laughter surely did reach Greg Carmichael and the magic continues. This DVD was my last purchase to complete my collection and it sure did pull it all together. I never tire of watching this extremely talented band perform. I promise that you will enjoy not only watching a superb performance, but also a diverse selection of their music performed flawlessly.---ENJOY!