Chieli Minucci
American musician
Chieli Minucci (born April 17, 1958) is an American guitarist who co-founded the band Special EFX.
Career
Minucci's father Ulpio Minucci was a concert pianist and composer who wrote the music to the 1955 song "Domani."
Minucci started Special EFX in 1982 with Hungarian drummer George Jinda. The band combined rock, Latin rhythm, and smooth jazz. When the duo separated in 1995, Jinda continued to perform under the name Special EFX. After Jinda's death in 2001, Minucci performed under the name Chieli Minucci and Special EFX. He recorded albums as a solo act, beginning in 1994 with Jewels. He has worked as a record producer and composer for Deborah Henson-Conant and Kim Pensyl, and as a sideman for Angela Bofill, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Noel Pointer and Roseanna Vitro.
Awards and honors
Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series, Daytime Emmy Awards, The Guiding Light, 1999, 2007, 2008
"Deep as the Night" was the Billboard #1 Smooth Jazz Song of the Year for 2018.
Discography
As leader
Jewels (JVC, 1995)
Renaissance (JVC, 1996)
It's Gonna Be Good (JVC, 1998)
Sweet on You (Shanachie, 2000)
Night Grooves (Shanachie, 2003)
Got It Goin' On (Shanachie, 2005)
Solos, Duos, & Trios (ChieliMusic, 2008)
Pop Today (ChieliMusic, 2008)
Raspberry & Cream (ChieliMusic, 2008)
Drippings (ChieliMusic, 2008)
Travels (Watchfire Music, 2009)
East of the Sun (Watchfire Music, 2009)
Someone's Singing (Watchfire Music, 2022)
With Special EFX
Special EFX (GRP, 1983)
Modern Manners (GRP, 1985)
Slice of Life (GRP, 1986)
Mystique (GRP, 1987)
Double Feature (GRP, 1988)
Confidential (GRP, 1989)
Just Like Magic (GRP, 1990)
Peace of the World (GRP, 1991)
Global Village (GRP, 1992)
Play (JVC, 1993)
Catwalk (JVC, 1994)
Body Language (JVC, 1995)
Masterpiece (Shanachie, 1999)
Butterfly (Shanachie, 2001)
Party (Shanachie, 2003)
A Night with Chieli Minucci & Special EFX (Shanachie, 2006)
Sweet Surrender (Shanachie, 2007)
Without You (ChieliMusic, 2010)
Genesis (Shanachie S405, 2013)
Deep as the Night (Trippin 'n' Rhythm, 2017)
All Stars (Trippin 'n' Rhythm, 2020)
Twenty Twenty 2 (ChieliMusic, 2022)
Return to Budapest with Love (ChieliMusic, 2024)
As sideman
With Anastacia
Not That Kind (Epic/Daylight, 2000)
Freak of Nature (Epic/Daylight, 2001)
You'll Never Be Alone (Epic/Daylight, 2002)
Pieces of a Dream (Epic/Daylight, 2005)
With Celine Dion
Let's Talk About Love (Columbia, 1997)
These Are Special Times (Columbia, 1998)
I'm Alive (Columbia, 2002)
A New Day Has Come (Columbia, 2002)
One Heart (Columbia, 2003)
With Deborah Henson-Conant
Caught in the Act (GRP, 1990)
Talking Hands (GRP, 1991)
Budapest (MCD Jazz, 1992)
With Chris Hinze
Saliah (Keytone, 1984)
African Dream (Keytone, 1991)
Music for Relaxation (Keytone, 1992)
With others
Marc Anthony, Mended (Columbia, 2002)
Angela Bofill, Love in Slow Motion (Shanachie, 1996)
Backstreet Boys, Millennium (GSM Music, 1999)
B. B. & Q. Band, All Night Long (Capitol, 1982)
B. B. & Q. Band, Six Million Times (Capitol, 1983)
Bob Baldwin, Standing Tall (Narada, 2002)
Jay Beckenstein, Eye Contact (Windham Hill, 2000)
Tom Browne, R'N'Browne (Hip Bop, 1999)
Will Downing, Invitation Only (Mercury, 1997)
Roberta Flack, Oasis (Atlantic, 1988)
Russell Gunn, Ethnomusicology Vol.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Chieli Minucci” as american musician. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american musician. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 30, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3667791. VIAF identifies the subject as 46960863. The Library of Congress control number is n91122832. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958, 1955, 1982 and 1995.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chieli Minucci” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.