Acoustic Alchemy

Acoustic Alchemy is a British contemporary instrumental and smooth jazz band formed in England in the early 1980s (c. 1981). Originally fronted by acoustic guitarists Nick Webb and Simon James, the band has

Acoustic Alchemy is a British contemporary instrumental and smooth jazz band formed in England in the early 1980s (c. 1981). Originally fronted by acoustic guitarists Nick Webb and Simon James, the band has evolved gradually and is still in existence to this day.

During the 1980s, there was little grateful audience for this form of music in the UK, and the big players in the genre were all American. The pioneering sound of two duelling acoustic guitars — Simon James on nylon and Nick Webb on steel — was a fresh touch on the genre, and hence the immediate success of the band, backed up by string quartet The Violettes. In the mid-1980s, James left the band to focus on other projects; Nick Webb then went on to discover Greg Carmichael, who became James' immediate successor.