{"id":7165,"date":"2024-03-25T16:21:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gr1993records.com\/?p=7165"},"modified":"2024-03-25T16:40:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:40:44","slug":"a-special-efx-legacy-of-love-review-by-rick-scott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gr1993records.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/25\/a-special-efx-legacy-of-love-review-by-rick-scott\/","title":{"rendered":"A Special EFX legacy of \u201cLove\u201d \u2013 review by Rick Scott"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]The contemporary jazz-world fusion band releases a collection of live recordings recorded in Hungary on the album \u201cReturn to Budapest with Love,\u201d which is out now.<\/p>\n

NEW YORK CITY (18 March 2024): Grammy nominated world jazz fusion group Special EFX has deep ties to Budapest as co-founder and master percussionist George Jinda was Hungarian as was his frequent songwriting partner Bela “Szakcsi” Lakatos. Along with the band\u2019s co-founder and guitarist Chieli Minucci, the US-based Special EFX returned to Budapest to perform at the famed Pet\u0151fi Csarnok twice. Those 1990 and 1992 concerts were recorded by a local Hungarian radio station and are now available digitally and via CD from Chieli Music as the album \u201cReturn to Budapest with Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the concerts took place, there weren\u2019t any plans to release a live album from the shows. In fact, Special EFX\u2019s then label, GRP Records, felt that a live album would cut into sales of the crystalline digital CDs they were releasing at the time. Hungarian jazz fusion supergroup Djabe bandleader\/guitarist Attila Egerhazi recently approached Minucci with the idea to release a live collection from the archived recordings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided it was long overdue to let our fans hear a live CD recording. Years earlier, we\u2019d lobbied for a live concert release. At the last minute, our label declined, yet the artist in me just wanted to let folks hear what I heard every night on that stage. Well, all these years later, here it is!\u201d enthused Minucci.<\/p>\n

After listening to the two concerts, Minucci selected ten songs that he felt best captured the collaborative magic between him and Jinda, who passed away in 2002. In the spirit of Special EFX’s artistic direction, much of the music on the live album was improvised, particularly the duet pieces featuring Minucci and Jinda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project, which I believe came from two-track to tape recordings, will give our fans a rare glimpse into the duo performances that George and I always included in our shows. Here there are many of them as well as full-band ensemble pieces,\u201d said Minucci.<\/p>\n

The full-band ensemble Minucci referenced consisted of him on electric and acoustic guitars, Jinda playing an array of multicultural percussion instruments (percussion, African talking drum, shakers, caxixi, tuned temple blocks, energy chime, crotales), Szakcsi on acoustic piano and keyboards, drummer Lionel Cordew and bassist Gerald Veasley.<\/p>\n

Prior to the two Hungarian concert dates, Szakcsi had never performed with Special EFX although he had a lengthy history of writing with Jinda.<\/p>\n

\u201cA real treat for us was the inclusion of the famous jazz pianist and composer Bela \u2018Szakcsi\u2019 Lakatos who\u2019d never actually performed our music before. Fans of the group will remember Szakcsi as co-composer of many earlier-period Special EFX compositions. With only a soundcheck to rehearse, the band performed for about 2,000 excited fans that evening,\u201d said Minucci who reunited with Szakcsi for another Hungarian concert date five years ago prior to the keyboardist\u2019s death in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturn to Budapest with Love\u201d opens with \u201cLooking for Seventh Heaven,\u201d a fiery Szakcsi and Jinda composition that Minucci describes as influenced by The Police and Sting. A rare live version of the 1986 album title track duo piece, \u201cSlice of Life\u201d contains a digital-delay loop effect that Minucci used quite often around the time of the live recording. The album contains the only existing version of the Minucci-Jinda duet \u201cForever,\u201d an ethereal exploration piloted by Minucci\u2019s frenetic guitar.<\/p>\n

Minucci said that he and Szakcsi improvised the impassioned guitar and piano dalliance, \u201cChance Encounter,\u201d \u201cspontaneously in the middle of the concert. This is the only time Szakcsi and I ever played it.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_single_image image=”7124″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_column_text]\u201cThe Toy Shop\u201d is faithful to the studio recording of the track that Minucci describes as another meditative loop song. Named for someone Jinda knew, the fusion foray \u201cSabariah\u201d was a concert favorite from Special EFX\u2019s early touring days. The sprawling journey that is \u201cNature Boy Pt. 1 & 2\u201d clocks in generously at more than ten minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA classic we played at all our shows, \u2018Nature Boy\u2019 beautifully demonstrates George\u2019s talent on the African talking drum, not to mention my own Pete Townsend-influenced strumming. I still perform this as a solo piece at the end of Special EFX concerts,\u201d said Minucci.<\/p>\n

The brisk \u201cUptown East\u201d was one of Special EFX\u2019s first singles. At one of the Hungarian concerts, Special EFX hadn\u2019t planned to play \u201cFestival,\u201d yet spontaneously Jinda and Minucci broke into the tune, and it made it onto the album. \u201cReturn to Budapest with Love\u201d closes with the first composition the band ever recorded, \u201cSambuca Nights,\u201d which was issued as their first single in 1982. The track displays Minucci\u2019s fervent finger work on acoustic guitar.<\/p>\n

Special EFX\u2019s surviving member Minucci keeps the band\u2019s 42-year legacy relevant and thriving via prodigious recording projects that are supported by busy concert itineraries, including treks with a revolving cast of special guests who join the guitarist under the name Special EFX All-Stars. A highly respected and in-demand guitarist known for his blazing speed, dexterous technique and meticulous detail, Minucci has performed or recorded with a plethora of pop, R&B, rock and jazz stars, the list of which includes Celine Dion, Lou Reed, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Lopez, Jewel, Marc Anthony, Michael Bolton, Eartha Kitt, Kirk Whalum, Maysa, Jeff Lorber, Norman Brown, Marion Meadows, Mindi Abair, Rick Braun and Omar Hakim. He\u2019s also a three-time Emmy-winning composer who can be heard on films such as \u201cNo Country for Old Men,\u201d \u201cBowfinger,\u201d \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d and \u201cPanic.\u201d A longtime New York City resident who lives close to Broadway, Minucci\u2019s whimsical theater work includes classic live productions of \u201cPeter Pan,\u201d \u201cDora the Explorer,\u201d \u201cThomas the Tank Engine,\u201d and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturn to Budapest with Love\u201d contains the following songs:<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking for Seventh Heaven\u201d
\n\u201cSlice of Life\u201d \u2013 \u201cTimeless Mood\u201d
\n\u201cForever\u201d
\n\u201cChance Encounter\u201d
\n\u201cThe Toy Shop\u201d
\n\u201cSabariah\u201d
\n\u201cNature Boy Pt. 1 & 2\u201d
\n\u201cUptown East\u201d
\n\u201cFestival\u201d
\n\u201cSambuca Nights\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n<\/em>Rick Scott<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_video link=”http:\/\/youtu.be\/PS2CAIBOAwk” align=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_btn title=”Original review” color=”primary” align=”center” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-external-link” css_animation=”left-to-right” add_icon=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto%3Ffbid%3D10229517455534668%26set%3Da.3254447393951||target:%20_blank|”][vc_separator][vc_column_text]Tov\u00e1bbi inform\u00e1ci\u00f3 \u00e9s megrendel\u00e9s:<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text]

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