''Blue Chip'' is the third album by

Acoustic Alchemy Acoustic Alchemy is an English smooth jazz band formed in England in the early 1980s by Nick Webb and Simon James. 1981–1989: Early days Acoustic Alchemy was formed around the acoustic guitars of Simon James ( nylon string) and Nick Webb ( ...

, released under the MCA Master Series label in 1989, and again under GRP in 1996. The album presented an experiment with pop music in the band's signature style using strong memorable melody lines. The most successful track is "Catalina Kiss", the album opener and a longstanding live favourite. Using a shuffle rhythm, the track calls upon the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

for embellishments, whilst tonal harmonies between the two guitars evoke a strong melody. JazzTrax host Art Good suggested that the song was inspired by a performance the band performed at the Catalina Island Jazz Festival in 1988.

Track listing

Personnel

* Mario Argadoña – Percussion * Rainer Bruninghaus – Piano, Keyboards * Greg Carmichael – Guitar * Klaus Genuit – Percussion, Engineer * John Parsons – Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Producer * Bert Smaak – Percussion, Drums, Programming * Klaus Sperber – Bass * Nick Webb – Guitar * Karl Heinz Wiberny – Saxophone, Woodwind

References

{{Authority control 1989 albums Acoustic Alchemy albums GRP Records albums MCA Records albums