I saw this at the Best Buy the other day. Since I'm not a huge AA fan, I was a little reluctant to pick it up. I do like their Reference Point album as well as AArt and The Beautiful Game. Anybody know anything about it?

Mike...

If you like "Beautiful Game", you will LOVE this live CD, as many of the tracks are from "BG". The concert was actually recorded BEFORE "AArt" was released, although there are three songs from AArt on it as well.

There is NOTHING like the sound of a LIVE recording!!! The extended solos, the improvisations...the cheering crowd!! This is an AWESOME CD...I love it!!

Mike, don't be a twit!! :rolleyes: Just BUY it!! You WON'T be sorry!!

On the Acoustic Alchemy board, it gets a thumbs up for both the CD & DVD.

http://www.hooper.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000020

The material is from the Beautiful Game tour and recordings prior to Beautiful Game. It was recorded before the release of AArt the following September (2001). Flamoco Loco, Viva Che & Wind of Change have evolved a lot since then, so it's interesting to hear them again as they were. Also, there is no sax - if you're used to their "AArt" sound with Eddie M or Jeff K.

"Best Kept Secret" represents the band's sound with Nick Webb and is a video of the CD "Arcanum" and life on the road. "Sounds of St. Lucia" represents Greg Carmichael's collaboration with Miles Gilderdale. You will hear Tony "Fred" White shine on keys and Frank Felix groove on the bass.

My favorites are "Panama Cat" and "Catalina Kiss", and "Playing for Time" which always makes me think of Nick (and cry). I have a great memory of "Playing for Time" which counters the tears - singing along with Lauri at Pizza Express in London and saying "I'm so happy", over and over.

I've listed the songs with the original album name:

Catalina Kiss (Blue Chip)
Playing for Time (Back on The Case)
Angel of the South (The Beautiful Game)
Beautiful Game (The Beautiful Game)
Trailblazer (The Beautiful Game)
Viva Che (AArt)
Cool as a Rule (The New Edge)
Flamoco Loco (AArt)
Wind of Change (AArt)
Augustrasse 18 (Positive Thinking)
Panama Cat (The Beautiful Game)
Lazeez (Against The Grain)
Red Dust and Spanish Lace (Red Dust and Spanish Lace)
Casino (Natural Elements)

FYI - their newest, "Radio Contact" will be released on June 24th. There will be less horns and Mario Argandona returns on percussion. Chuck Loeb produced 4 of the tracks, including the 1st single "No Messin'".

Cool, thanks for the report guys. I thought it would be a good release, I just had money for one CD, and I picked up the new Ripps one instead. I think I'll pick this one up when my next paycheck comes. Another question, I'm looking to increase my Acoustic Alchemy collection, Other than BG, AArt, and Reference Point, what are some must haves by these guys? I know someone once mentioned to me that I should get Back on the case. Thanks for the help

Donna, I'll stop being a twit now too

Mike-
I found Back on The Case in the used bin, it's a treasure. AArt is still my favorite, since I came to the dance a bit late and that was my first AA purchase, but Back.. is very good. Don't have it, but both Positive Thinking and Red Dust Spanish Lace are mentioned here regularly, I would think either (or both) would be good bets.
Cheers
TonyY

Arcanum - a nearly acoustic compilation
Natural Elements
The New Edge - if you can get a European copy, you'll get a bonus track

Early Alchemy is mostly centered on Nick Webb's guitar, very acoustic and not really in the double guitar style of the latter Acoustic Alchemy.

AA is the only remaining Cjazz/Instrumentatl Pop that I mostly listen to...I probably consider myself as a fan of flamenco or spanish/latin guitar style of playing.

That was probably me. I remember advising someone once that "Back On the Case" was one of my favorites of the older AA recordings. I also think "Arcanum" would be a good choice, since it's a compilation of earlier material.

I now have every AA CD, except for "Early Alchemy". All of them contain great music...

How about that GRP release, "The Very Best of Acoustic Alchemy"?? That would be a good way to get a lot of the best stuff in one recording. Here's a link, so you can see the names of the 16 tracks on it:

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/grp/product.asp?pid=10719

This is an absolutely greatm great CD. I understand that Arcanum was recorded live for a small audience. I like Arcanum, but it's relatively dead compared to the energy on St. Lucia. "Angel of the South" is my favorite cut - especially the mesmerizing guitars in the last 2 minutes. I'm looking forward to their 2 nights at Zanzibar Blue in Phila. in September.

I just bought the DVD version of St Lucia. It was the same as I saw parts of on BET on Jazz about a month ago. But without the boring commercials every 4 minutes. It gets 3 thumbs up from me, and I only have 2. With the TV and Surround sound system that I have at home it looks and sounds great. With the subwoofer, you really get the full effect of Frank Felix's abilities on bass. The only thing that I would have wished for would have been for Jeff Kashiwa to come out and play on a few songs. But when you see the guys playing the two types of guitar and swapping the lead and rythym parts back and forth, it shows me how talented they are. When listening to a CD, I didn't realize how much lead changing was done, and without any break in the pattern.

I still go back to Natural Elements, it was a tape then not a CD, that turned me on to AA. Actually it was the Video of Casino that played on VH1, back when they played real music, that turned me on to them.

I agree- this live cd is good, and you can hear how their sound has evolved.