Chieli MInucci Drops Solo Projects For Special EFX

There will be no more solo albums from guitarist Chieli Minucci. But there’s no reason to despair. Minucci and his record label, Shanachie, have simply decided that from now all of his music will be released under the moniker Chieli Minucci With Special EFX.

The consolidation of names makes sense, Minucci says. When Special EFX was formed more than 20 years ago, it was a collaboration between Minucci and percussionist George Jinda, who died in January 2002. The duo broke up 10 years ago, but Minucci continued to release Special EFX CDs on his own in addition to his solo projects. Since that time, Minucci has basically followed a Special EFX with a solo project, even though Minucci has for the most part been the focus of the music.

It all got to be confusing, Minucci admits, and his solo concerts would often be booked as Special EFX shows.

"I have six solo CDs and Special EFX has 17," Minucci says. "We’ve been around doing stuff for awhile. But it kind of confused what we were doing with the recordings and the bookings, and it feels like now we’re reconciling everything. The live shows have been called Chieli Minucci With Special EFX for a while now. And now we’re going to do a record under the same name. The thing is, how much of a chameleon can you be, right? I mean, I try to make the Special EFX and the Chieli records sound different, but there’s always a few songs that sound like they could be the same record, you know. I couldn't do it anymore."