SPECIAL EFX ALL-STARS
(5-8 piece band featuring a customizable array of world-class featured guests)
SPECIAL EFX featuring Chieli Minucci
(4-5 piece band)
Chieli Minucci – guitars, Special EFX & Special EFX All-Stars bandleader (GRAMMY-nominee, 3x Emmy Award winner)
Eric Marienthal – sax (GRAMMY-winner, Chick Corea Elektric Band, Elton John)
Karen Briggs – violin (bandleader, Yanni, Stanley Clarke)
Lin Rountree – trumpet (bandleader)
Althea Rene – flute (bandleader)
Jeff Ryan – saxophone (bandleader)
Elliott Yamin – vocals (American Idol finalist!)
Maiya Sykes – vocalist (The Voice contestant, Ringo Starr, Billy Idol, Macy Gray)
Brian Bromberg – bass (GRAMMY-nominee)
Paul Brown – guitarist, GRAMMY-winning producer for George Benson, Boney James, Norman Brown)
Lao Tizer – keyboards (bandleader The Lao Tizer Band)
Joel Rosenblatt – drums (Special EFX, Spyro Gyra, Michel Camilo)
Jay Rowe – keyboards (Special EFX, Acoustic Alchemy, Nick Colionne)
Mino Cinélu – percussion (Weather Report, Sting, Miles Davis)
Dave Livolsi – bass (John Scofield, Roberta Flack)
Highlights
Special EFX, the GRAMMY-nominated Contemporary Jazz Supergroup with 34 combined albums, 7 Billboard #1’s and decades of domestic and international touring to their credit! Available as both regular Special EFX (quartet/quintet) and Special EFX All-Stars, a customizable package featuring a musical mix of renowned musicians and vocalists, all with extensive credits to their names.
Chieli and Special EFX released “Meant to Be”, in 2025. This chart-topping single reached the #1 spot on Billboard! In the summer of 2024, their previous single, “Cool Summer”, reached the #1 spot on Billboard as well, a total of 5 charts at the #1 spot simultaneously!
Billboard Magazine’s top honors, winning best-song-of-the-year – Deep as the Night!
#2 contemporary jazz songs – My Girl Sunday, Kickin It Hard
Performance Highlights:
Jazz In The Gardens – Miami, FL
Seabreeze Jazz Festival – FL
Spaghettini – CA
Yoshi’s – CA
Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant -MN
MIM – Musical Instrument Museum – Phoenix
Soiled Dove – Denver
Wiggins Waterfront Amphitheater – Camden, NJ
A Celebration of Black Music – Cincinnati
Catalina JazzTrax Festival – CA
City Winery
John Coltrane Jazz Festival – NC
Beacon Theater – NYC
Mallorca Jazz Festival – Spain
John Coltrane Jazz Festival – NC
Berks Jazz Festival – PA
Winter Park Jazz Festival – CO
Queen Mary Jazz Festival – Long Beach, CA
The Bottom Line – NYC
Best Buy Theater – NYC
Montreux Jazz Festival – Montreux, Switzerland
North Sea Jazz Festival – The Hague, Holland
Grande Parade du Jazz – Nice, France
Umbria Jazz Festival – Perugia, Italy
The Pit In – Tokyo, JAPAN
Java Jazz Festival – Jakarta, Indonesia
West Embankment Music Festival – Shanghai , China
Chieli Minucci
Guitarist, composer, producer, and arranger Chieli Minucci is longtime leader of the Grammy-nominated jazz-fusion group SPECIAL EFX featuring Chieli Minucci, a major force on the jazz and world music scene for over 40 years.
Chieli has just released his first full CD in 3 years, the long-awaited, Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci – “THE HITS”! This ambitious project is comprised of 14 songs, including re-mastered favorites and chart-toppers from the band’s long multi-decade career, as well as brand new songs, and a few surprises!
Chieli also recently released “Marbella”, his third collaboration with renowned producer, Paul Brown. With its sunny, grooving, mid-tempo melody, Marbella creates visions of romantic memories – walking on the beach, a vacation in Spain perhaps, a kiss at sunset, a knowing glance between two lovers. Chieli’s melodies and recognizable guitar playing caps off the imagery with its ultra-smooth performance.
Chieli and Special EFX released “Meant to Be” in 2025. This chart-topping single reached the #1 spot on Billboard! In the summer of 2024, their previous single, “Cool Summer”, reached the #1 spot on Billboard, as well as a total of 5 charts simultaneously!
Chieli has also recently released 3 unique projects – “Return to Budapest With Love”, is an archived, 1990 live concert recording of Special EFX from their early days on tour in Europe; the solo, and mainly acoustic release, “Someone’s Singing”; as well as the 40th anniversary Special EFX CD, “Twenty Twenty 2”.
Chieli & Special EFX’s previous release saw title track, “Deep as the Night”, win Billboard Magazine’s 2018 top honors, best-song-of-the-year.
#1 Billboard contemporary jazz songs:
Dreams, Seduction, Cruise Control, Blue Lagoon,
Till the End of Time, Lavish, Cool Summer, Meant To Be
#2 contemporary jazz songs:
My Girl Sunday, Kickin It Hard
Besides writing and performing his own music, Chieli shares his guitar brilliance throughout the entertainment world. He has recorded and performed with many top artists, such as Celine Dion, Lou Reed, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Lopez, Donny Osmond, Jewel, Marc Anthony, Michael Bolton, Rupert Holmes, Anastasia, even classic artists Eartha Kitt, and Eddie Fisher. He’s collaborated and worked alongside contemporary jazz artists Kirk Whalum, Maysa, Jeff Lorber, Norman Brown, Bernie Williams, Marion Meadows, Lao Tizer, Mindi Abair, Rick Braun, Gerald Veasley, Omar Hakim, and many others.
Although renowned in the jazz and pop world, Chieli is also a gifted television and film composer. He has won 3 Emmy Awards and been nominated 10 times for his eclectic compositional work. His music can also be heard on the soundtracks of the films No Country for Old Men, Bowfinger, Legally Blonde, Panic, and others. Chieli’s original scoring work can be heard in live stage productions of Peter Pan, Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine, and others.
Special EFX Music.com
The official Chieli Minucci website
Additional biographical and discography information can be viewed at:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/chieli-minucci-mn0000113409/credits
International Movie Database
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1474265
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chieli_Minucci
Contact
WORLDWIDE BOOKINGS
Lao Tizer Music Inc.
[email protected]
+1 (818)590-3163
MANAGEMENT
Axis Artist Management/Nelly Neben
www.axismanagement.com
[email protected]
(818) 998-2595
