Special EFX & Chieli Minucci - Twenty Twenty 2 (2022)

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!