Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci/Special EFX Allstars

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 40 years.

Chieli has just released 2 brand new projects – the solo acoustic “Someone’s Singing”, as well as his 40th anniversary Special EFX CD, “Twenty Twenty 2” (both ChieliMusic). 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.

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, Jewel, Mark Anthony, Michael Bolton, Rupert Holmes, Eartha Kitt, Eddie Fisher, Anastasia, as well as jazz artists Kirk Whalum, 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 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.

Chieli comes from a musical background. His father, Ulpio Minucci (concert pianist/composer) wrote the American songbook standard, and 1955 hit song, “Domani” (sung by Julius LaRosa as well as Bing Crosby), as well as “A Thousand Thoughts of You,” and “Felicia” (both sung by Nat King Cole).

Also known as a composer for television and film, Minucci has won three Emmy Awards, in 1998, 2007, and 2008, and in addition has been nominated for 10 Emmy Awards for his eclectic compositional work on CBS’s "The Guiding Light", which holds the record as the longest running TV show in American history. He has written music for well-known programs such as Dancing With the Stars, American Idol, Good Morning America (theme), Bloomberg Radio (theme), Access Hollywood, The 700 Club, and others. He also contributed music to the soundtracks of Bowfinger (1999 Universal), Legally Blonde (2001 MGM), and Panic (2000 Artisan).

International Movie Database
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1474265

Minucci composed and produced the soundtracks for the Broadway Across America/Nickelodeon live stage productions of the international hit TV series, Dora the Explorer (Dora’s Pirate Adventure, The City of Lost Toys, and Return to the City of Lost Toys), all of which toured. He also wrote and recorded original songs for the live stage production of Thomas & Friends Live™, (both Thomas Saves The Day! and A Circus Comes to Town). Most recently he has contributed to the score of Peter Pan 360 (Herrick Entertainment/Threesixty Entertainment), which premiered in June of 2015.

In August 2012, Prof. Chieli Minucci joined Beijing’s DeTao Masters Academy
as a DeTao Master of Modern Music.
http://www.detaoma.com/en/about/621901.htm

Working Experience
• The leader & co-founder of the famous American contemporary world fusion band, “Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci”.

Education
• Attended Ithaca College in upstate NY, where he initially majored in music, studying classical guitar, and continued as an English Major. He also attended Queens College in NYC, where he continued to study literature.

Honors and Awards
• Grammy nomination for "Modern Manners" - Chieli Minucci & Special EFX
• Winner of three Emmy Awards (1998, 2007, 2008) CBS's "The Guiding Light"
• Nominated for 10 Daytime Emmy Awards for his compositional work on CBS's "The Guiding Light"