It was back in 1982 that percussionist George Jinda and I first met and recorded music together. What started out as a kind of side project for me, unexpectedly blossomed into 4 decades of recording and touring! 40 years! Special EFX has been a wonderful showcase for me as a composer, arranger, guitarist for all this time. What a gift! I’m grateful every day for this gig! This year marks the 20th year since George left us. His spirit continues to live in our music.
Here are 14 brand new recordings, music mostly written during the first year of the pandemic, plus a couple of familiar remakes I hope you’ll enjoy! I once read that composing is like an energy wave passing through one’s body - first from above, through the mind, then through the body, and finally out the hand, off into the world for all to share. I still feel that same excitement about music I experienced as a child, more than ever perhaps~
Thanks to all my musician friends for their wonderful and heartfelt performances, and artistic contributions to this 40th anniversary of Special EFX! Inspiration comes from all directions. Thank you to my musical family – bassists Jerry Brooks Ric Fierabracci, Dave Anderson, and Gianluca Minucci, keyboardists Lao Tizer, Jay Rowe, and Oli Silk, percussionist Mino Cinélu, saxophonists Eric Marienthal, Nelson Rangell, and Richie Cannata, drummers Joel Rosenblatt, Lionel Cordew, & John Favicchia, violinist Antoine Silverman, and trumpeter Lin Rountree!
______________________
I chose to name the this project “Twenty Twenty 2” mostly because this is the year in which it will become available to all. My hope is that music lovers will listen to its contents from top to bottom, as is, in the order I chose to sequence it in, kind of like how we all did back in the day, before streaming and websites.
‘”Everything and Anything” will sound familiar to many, as it’s a recreation of “Anything and Everything”, from close to 30 years ago! It was so refreshing to revisit the song, and redo the arrangement to feature saxophonist Eric Marienthal! Interestingly the song was never released as a single. Perhaps it’ll see it’s moment here in 2022!
As the world has shifted from ‘brick & mortar’ stores to almost all-online sales it’s become increasingly difficult for new artists to make a real living being creative in music. I have been fortunate in that I started out creating LPs in the 80s, which shifted to CDs for many years. But one of the beauties of present day technology is the ease with which music lovers can listen to, and purchase music. I choose to embrace how things are done as technology continues to evolve – and I’d like it if this new Special EFX project will easily be available everywhere for all to enjoy!
About the production – most folks know that Special EFX has traditionally been a live-in-the-studio band for most of its years. Because of the 2020+ pandemic that option wasn’t available. So as many of my fellow artists also experienced recently, the music was often recorded one part at a time. This was a new experience for me, and as you’ll hear, it’s pretty much unnoticeable. “Ballerina Dreams”, yet another recreation of 1989’s “Ballerina”, was recorded live over at the SiriusXM studios right before lockdown began. Also recorded live in the studio was “Ceili Music”, from a recording session a couple of years earlier. Then there were the compositions that just happened spontaneously, perhaps as the result of a walk along the beach (“Words Left Unsaid”) or “Showboat”, which I wrote as a result of listening to some of my favorite big-band sounding fusion music groups.
released April 22, 2022
1. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
(Forrest Richard Betts) Unichappell Music, Inc.
Lionel Cordew - drums
Jerry Brooks - bass
Jay Rowe - organ
Richie Cannata - flute, saxophone
Mino Cinélu - percussion
Chieli Minucci - acoustic & electric guitars
Occasionally the band unexpectedly bursts into this gem at a concert. I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock music, and the Allman Brothers Band was right up there - Dicky Betts and Duane Allman's guitars getting under my finger nails day by day. I wanted to change things up a bit, opening the record like this~
____________________________
2. Gonna Be Alright
(Chieli Minucci/Chieli Music)
John Favicchia - drums
Jerry Brooks - bass
Chieli Minucci - acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards
A little bit of acoustic blues and a little bit of bluesy Stratocaster for ya, supported by Fav and Brooksman's driving grooves, propelling the whole jam. Guys on the job, folks working out on the track, steelworkers pile-driving, riveting those steel girders up high.
____________________________
3. Slow Hands
Joel Rosenblatt - drums
Jay Rowe - electric piano
Lao Tizer - Hammond organ
Gianluca Minucci - bass
Chieli Minucci - guitar, background vocals
A mellow, moody moment - I was inspired by the ambient tone I conjured from my old 1984 Pensa-Suhr. Then the piece just came along, practically out of thin air. Music can like that - inspiration is everywhere.
____________________________
4. Showboat
Joel Rosenblatt - drums
Ric Fierabracci - bass
Chieli Minucci - guitar, synth, kalimba, arrangements
Nelson Rangell - flute
Lao Tizer - electric & acoustic piano
Showboat was a reaction to my reawakening of Joe Zawinul's Weather Report and Syndicate projects. The composition, a real romp in poly-rhythms, features the amazing talents of Joel, Ric, Nelson, and Lao. I recorded using my archtop jazz guitar, the beautiful Scharpach Vienna Opus.
____________________________
5. Folks Like Us
Chieli Minucci - guitars, keyboard backgrounds, shaker
Joel Rosenblatt - drums
Dave Anderson - fretless bass
Lao Tizer - Hammond organ
I wrote and recorded this composition during the early months of the 2020 pandemic, when we were hunkering down and keeping our distances. For me it evokes the ironic peacefulness of that quiet time, and the yearning to move past it.
____________________________
6. Ceili Music
Mino Cinélu – percussion
Antoine Silverman – violin
Jerry Brooks – bass
Chieli Minucci - acoustic & electric guitars
Named after my Irish twinner, this playful ditty just romps through the day. It was recorded on the same day as "Dance on the Delta" and "Another Day, Another Smile", from Special EFX, 'Genesis'. At the end of the session we all stood in a circle and created an old fashion hand-clap track. Fun!
____________________________
7. Everything and Anything
Jerry Brooks – bass
Eric Marienthal – saxophone
Chieli Minucci - guitars, keyboards, beats
A brighter tempo remake of, "Anything and Everything", from my solo CD from the 90s, "Renaissance" - this one features Eric Marienthal doing his melodious thing on alto.
____________________________
8. Novembers Child
Lin Rountree - trumpet
Oli Silk - piano
Chieli Minucci - guitars, keyboards, beats
Thank you to Oli and Lin for adding their fresh sounds to this piece. I have always enjoyed Top 40 radio, admired the productions and arrangements of contemporary artists like Justin Bieber, Zedd, Max Martin, to name a few. In a roundabout sort of way they influenced my approach to this piece.
____________________________
9. December
Chieli Minucci - guitars, synths
This is an ambient prelude to Ballerina Dreams~
____________________________
10. Ballerina Dreams
Jerry Brooks – bass
Joel Rosenblatt - drums
Chieli Minucci – guitar
Jay Rowe – keyboards
Recorded live at the Sirius XM Studios, Washington, DC, back in 2019, here's a live version of this Special EFX classic from our early GRP period. One of the last concert tours before the pandemic came along and put us back in the practice room.
____________________________
11. I’m Leaving You
Chieli Minucci - guitars, keyboards
Dave Anderson – fretless bass
Joel Rosenblatt - drums
Inspired by the beautiful, brand new blue Fender American Performer Stratocaster I bought for Christmas 2020. I was having some fun exploring the sustaining sounds from this wonderful instrument and decided to write a power-ballad. It's become tradition to include this style of song every once in a while.
____________________________
12. Kampalino
Mino Cinélu – percussion
The mysterious percussion intro originally written to "Kampala" from Special EFX All Stars (2020), now becomes the intro to the foreign intrigue of "Homeland".
____________________________
13. Homeland
Joel Rosenblatt - drums
Jerry Brooks - bass
Antoine Silverman - violin
Chieli Minucci - guitars, keyboards
Inspired by the Showtime series by the same name, this sneaky odd-meter groove might take you around the world more than a few times. Featuring Antoine's fiery violin and some pretty slamming drum work by Joel.
____________________________
14. Words Left Unsaid
Chieli Minucci - guitars, keyboards, beats
Also written in the first few months of the 2020 pandemic, I rediscovered the beauty of boardwalk walking, contemplating, ruminating, meditating, exercising! It all happened at Long Beach, NY, definitely one of the pristine beaches in the world.
_______________________
Compositions written by Chieli Minucci/published by Chieli Music
except In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (Forrest Richard Betts, published by No Exit Music Co., Inc.) and Kampalino (Mino Cinélu)
Mixed by Paul Wickliffe at The Underground, South Orange, NJ
except for Words Left Unsaid, and December, mixed by Chieli Minucci at Baci Studios, Forest Hills, NY
Cover art by Amanda Jo Nagle
Album artwork designed by Renée Gannon
makeunicornsgreatagain.com
Photographs - Eduardo Simmonds Sr., Paul Wickliffe, Katherine Gilraine/KG Creative Enterprises, KT Jones Photography, others. Thank you to those of you who contributed photos from our concerts.
____________________________
Thanks to all my musician friends for their wonderful and heartfelt performances, and artistic contributions to this 40th anniversary of Special EFX! Inspiration comes from all directions. Most of the music was written and recorded during the pandemic of 2020-2022. Thank you to my musical family - Jerry Brooks, Jay Rowe, Mino Cinélu, Lao Tizer, Eric Marienthal, Joel Rosenblatt, Lionel Cordew, Dave Anderson, Gianluca Minucci, Nelson Rangell, Ric Fierabracci, Richie Cannata, John Favicchia, Antoine Silverman, Lin Rountree, and Oli Silk~
It was back in 1982 that George Jinda and I first recorded music together. I’m grateful every day for this gig! This year marks the 20th year since George left us. His spirit continues to live in our music.
* add photo?
Special thanks to my dear friends, keyboardist (and Special EFX concert agent) Lao Tizer for his vision & tenacity, and Nelly Neben for her decades as my devoted manager. A big shout out to the many wonderful promoters, theater, and club owners who tirelessly work in partnership with us to produce the live concerts which are the real reason for all of this! Gratitude to SiriusXM Watercolors for carrying on the tradition of radio airplay, and thank you to ALL the many radio stations, both terrestrial and virtual, who continue to support music. I got a big taste of traveling as a professional musician early on as a teenager and I knew what I wanted to do ever since.
Gratitude & much love to Stacey Hirabayashi, and to my entire family!
Thanks to music producer Manny Kallins at Gotham Music/Universal, my longtime entertainment attorneys Bob Donnelly and Paul Bezilla at Fox Rothschild, Trippin N Rhythm Records, Shanachie Records, JVC Records, GRP Records, and Keytone Records, where it all started. To my publicists, Amanda Jo Nagle, and Rick Scott (Great Scott P.R.oductions), Wayne Soodek, Burt Rosen, all my brothers from DSG, and... Snowflake and Da Boyz from CV.
As always and forever, enjoy the music!
- Chieli
MANAGEMENT
Nelly Neben/Axis Artists
Management
Nelly@axismanagement.com
+1(818) 998-2595
WORLDWIDE BOOKINGS
Lao Tizer Music Inc.
lao@laotizer.com
+1(818)590-3163
Please visit
SpecialEFXMusic.com and
ChieliMusic.com, the official websites for all things Chieli Minucci, Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci, and the Special EFX Allstars
Chieli can be contacted, and CDs can be purchased, at
info@chielimusic.com
