Cynics might point out the reality that greatest-hits packages on artists who have left a label are a ploy to milk the consumer, but the consumers care more about a solid package full of their favorite songs from the artist. The new
Acoustic Alchemy
(with
Miles Gilderdale
replacing the late founding guitarist,
Nick Webb
, as
Greg Carmichael
's partner) is riding high on
Higher Octave Music
, but the material on this collection -- part of a new
GRP
collection series -- will always be, to the true
fan, the real deal.
AA
's post-
Webb
sound is fancy and feisty, extremely soulful, and very attractive. Yet, there's something more intimate about the way
Carmichael
and
interacted; theirs was a union of true musical soul mates. This wonderful 16-track collection from their
and earlier
MCA
"Master Series" projects was chosen and sequenced by their manager,
Stewart Coxhead
, and he smartly picks all the crowd favorites:
"Mr. Chow,"
"Catalina Kiss,"
"Same Road, Same Reason,"
and more. The range from
pop
to
Latin
reggae
is fun to experience again. There's obviously a poignancy to all this because of
's 1998 death, but it's more important to celebrate the legacy. As syndicated radio host and
Catalina Island Jazz Trax
festival promoter
Art Good
says simply in his liner notes, "These are good songs." More importantly, they speak of an innocent time, the early days of
smooth jazz
when even the gentlest of these could become radio hits. ~ Jonathan Widran