Search - Special Efx :: Here to Stay

3 1/2 stars George Jinda's Final Recording

Phasedin | New Jersey | 05/26/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Special Efx was founded by New-Yorkers guitarist Chieli Minucci and hand percussionist George Jinda back in 1982. Sadly, most of their albums (the first 9) which were released on the GRP label between 1984 and 1992 are now out of print. In 1992 the band moved on to the JVC label (which sadly, also went kaput). However, the JVC work (4 CD's total ) have been re-issued and are currently available. The first 3 of these ("Play", "Catwalk" and "Body Language") still featured Jinda and Minucci together but adapted more of an urban smooth jazz flavor . These guys do this stuff as good as anyone, but i've always missed what made then unique: the mix of world music, new age and mix of electronic and acoustic flavors. When Jinda would send the guest drummers for a break and record multiple hand percussion parts himself with Minucci playing on top of it,well, it's the stuff that made these guys unique: this was their personal "Special Efx" stamp. Nearly all of the first 11 albums had at least one duo recording where Minucci and Jinda played all the parts themselves without any added help from the usual crew of keyboardists, bassists, drummers, horn players, ect. This was always the first track I would play when a new EFX recording was released.
However, things change. And with 1994's "Catwalk" the band put aside their more esoteric leanings to focus on a more urban smooth jazz sound, which they continued with the next release 1995's "Body Language". It seems that this change in direction was largely Jinda's doing, as I know he was interested in moving in a more commercial funky diirection at the time (I met and spoke to him once about this, back in 1994 at the time when the change in direction first occured).
Then, the unthinkable happened. Jinda and Minucci decided to go their separate ways. Both musicians had recorded solo discs at that point, but Chieli Minucci (ever the gentleman) let Jinda take the "Special Efx" name all the same. Strange, because at the time Jinda already had released more solo discs out under his own name than Minucci had.
So, what we get with the incredibly ironically titled "Here To Stay" (recorded Sept/Oct 1996) is the only CD Jinda got to release (without Minucci)under the Special Efx name, but it's really Jinda's 4th (and final)solo disc. Jinda suffered from a medical condition and shortly after the recording was completed he suffered a stroke-like attack and remained in a NY hospital unable to move at all for several years (until his death in early 2002 if I am remembering the dates correctly).
I can recommend all of Jinda's solo CD's. And although none of his other 3 solo discs ("George Jinda & World News", "World News: Reliable Sources", "Between Dreams") were so guitar-focused, I guess George knew that Special Efx fans were certainly guitar fans (since Chielei Minucci's guitars were always the main focus on the bands albums). So, to that end, all but two tracks on "Here To Stay" have the guest guitarists up front as the primary instrument. The guest guitarists should be no strangers to fans of smooth jazz: Chuck Loeb, Mark Whitfield, and the less well-known Ben Butler.
Both Mark Whitfield and Ben Butler play their electric guitars in a clean jazzy, and occaisionally funky electric guitar tone, Whitfield playing mostly on the real quiet late-night type ballads in a George Benson style while Ben Butler plays the more funky, uptempo tracks, but also in a very clean jazzy electric guitar tone. Smooth jazz guitar star Chuck Loeb's 2 appearences, though, make the album. Oddly for this electric guitarist, Loeb sticks to nylon string acoustic guitar for both of the tracks he appears on, and they are by far the best 2 tracks of the entire CD. "Since You've Been Away" is a wonderful bouncy uptempo track with a catchy sing-song melody which got some radio play on New York's smooth jazz station at the time of the albums release. Loeb's nylon string sounds quite a bit like Chieli Minucci's own past guitar work on this particular track. The CD's highest point for me, however, is Chuck Loeb's other guest appearence on "New Passage", a beautifully quiet ballad with a light Latin touch. It sounds as if it could have been written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, a high compliment indeed. Just a stunningly beautiful track, I wish the CD contained more moments like these.
The remainder 9 tracks on the CD are very good, if somewhat faceless smooth jazz. Some nice, very quiet, mellow ballads (usually featuring Mark Whitfield)that have a nice sitting-by-the fireplace in winter quality to them and some other more uptemo funky tracks are far less memorable. There's nothing in most of these remaining tracks that have anything of George Jinda's usually imaginative percussive touch. In fact listening to the album one would never guess that a percussionist is actually the bands leader. There is little of the overdubbed hand percussion work here that made the early EFX discs (as well as Jinda's excellent 2 "World News" solo discs)so special.
In general, I know this was the mode Jinda wanted to operate in in the last part of his recording career, and it's very very good "smooth jazz", but it pales in comparrison to the first 9 or 10 Special Efx discs with Chieli Minucci and George's own "World News" discs. This is a very modern slick, high-tech and programmed sounding CD. Apart from the guitars and occasional saxophone, most of the sounds on the CD comes from George's band mate Mark Johnson's programmed (sequenced?) keyboards and drum sounds. It's the direction Jinda chose on his last 2 recordings (the previous solo disc "Between Dreams" had the same sound and musical direction). Again, excellent smooth jazz, good for driving around in your car to, but nothing near the artistic high's of Jinda's incredible "World News" quartet of just a couple of years earlier, or the early Special Efx discs. If you want to hear tons of Jinda's esoteric percusion, as well as some of his best compositions (nearly all of Jinda's music was co-written with friend and pianist Szaksci, including the music here), attempt to locate those "World News" discs, which also featured the incredibly talented guitarist/composer Randy Roos.
Thankfully (and rightly so), since Jinda's illness (and eventual passing away) Chieli Minucci has once again picked up the Special Efx banner, so the band lives in name still, although new Efx discs are really no different from Minucci's solo albums (just as "Here To Stay" was really a Jinda solo disc). Since he also has his own solo discs coming out perhaps Minucci should consider once again using Special Efx as a more collaboritive group, since Minucci is now the only constant member and composer. I would suggest recruiting somebody like Jinda's old writing (and "World News")partner Szaksci (who did make guest appearences on some early Efx discs), or some fine early musicians like keyboardist Steve Robbins, who also made some nice contributions sound-wise to those early recordings.
Still and all, a very good smooth jazz disc which i still do listen to, but I would steer those unfamiliar with Jinda's or Special Efx works to earlier CD's if you can find them."