John Beaudin - Hi Chieli. It's nice to finally talk with you.

Chieli Minucci - Hey man, how are you. Could you hold one three seconds? (We hear Chieli mixing some music in the background)

John - What was that music I just heard?

Chieli - Oh, I'm doing a score right now. I'm mixing a little ten second thing and it's just about to end. Sorry hold on. (Chieli mixes more music in the background) Cut to commercial. (laughing)

John - Is that the "Guiding Light" music you're mixing?

Chieli - Actually, it is yes.

John - Do you have to actually watch the scenes before you do the music?

Chieli - Sometimes, usually not though.

John - You must have a feel after a while for what they need right?

Chieli - You know it's kind of interesting. I've done it a lot and the Musical Director of the show, she's had me score the scene and I've gotten together with her and discussed the kind of things that work. For instance, if they want something that's a little tense but not too heavy, she'll tell me about approximate lengths. The good thing is they do the whole thing in Pro Tools so they can shift it around. The one thing they always ask for though is at the end of the piece it has to have a big swell up. (laughing) It's perfect to cut to commercial. (laughing)

John - Listen, I just got amnesia but it's starting to wear off. I just found out my evil twin sister has married my father which is a problem since he's been left for dead on a desert island. Can you help me with a little family theme music?

Chieli - (laughing) Well, a lot of the stuff that I do for the show I just model from the movies. You know movie soundtracks because they want it to be very orchestral and very contemporary. For instance, the Matrix was a great movie to emulate, a lot of the stuff that was going on there works well for hostage scenes. You know the only thing they never ever use is Jazz. (laughing)

John - (laughing) Well, you have a lot of outlets for that so don't worry about it!

Chieli - You know I think the closest we got was last year when we did a Latin project and in the show they were in a club and they needed Latin based music like maybe Marc Anthony, Santana and Latin Pop stuff. That was the closest to something that I could relate to with my own band.

John - Well, the new Special EFX album just came out and it's appropriately called "Party." It's a very "up" album!

Chieli - Oh, this album is a whole other thing this "Party" album. We had a whole other point of view.

John - I talk about driving songs a lot on this site. I was just talking to Chuck Loeb about it last night and the "Party" album could get me to Albuquerque no problem. (laughing)

Chieli - Well, you're the first person who's called it that. You know what got me here? When I did my last solo album "Night Grooves" I wanted it to be a funk album along the lines of Kim Waters but to do my own take on it with guitars. With that album that's how I started and it didn't turn out that way but it turned out great where it ended. With the "Party" album the record company asked me to go ahead and start recording the new Special EFX album. They asked me what I was into and I said, "Well, I've done World Music and Acid Jazz so why don't we try to do a House Jazz record, something that's going to grab the people that grew up in the seventies like me." The label loved the album and they asked me what I wanted to call it so I came up with "Party Life." My thought was to super impose Jazz stuff on top of House rhythms and really up things like that which is not Jazz at all. We just mixed the two things together and that's where the idea came from. The end result was a few songs very much like "Ready for Anything." I think that's a pretty good example on where the whole record was supposed to go. In the process of writing and recording I ended up going in some different directions but the result was a more varied record with a lot of what you just called driving tunes.

John - There's certainly a lot of energy on "Party."

Chieli - My idea was to make a record that people could turn on and certainly listen to it while going down the highway which is how I mix my albums. By the way, I listen to them while I'm driving.

John - Well, I write music reviews while I'm driving so we're both dangerous on the road. (laughing)

Chieli - (laughing) Yeah, I take notes while I'm driving but I pull over and make notes to turn the guitar up a measure of 27.

John - Remind me never to drive behind you.

Chieli - (laughing) I pull over remember well not always. You know I should save the napkins that I'm writing on when on top of the steering wheel when I'm driving at seventy. (laughing)

John - I just used a Dictaphone. It keeps me alive! (laughing) The album has a consistent feel to it.

Chieli - Yeah, the idea was to make a CD that from top to bottom stays in one mood. The record is supposed to be perfect if you're with your girlfriend and you want to put it on repeat. So, it's supposed to be a sensual kind of record.

John - I've played your stuff on radio since I stared doing this in 1986 and one of the things that I've always appreciated about your solo and Special EFX stuff is usually with the radio tracks. I just get it within 10 seconds and those are the types of songs we always go for.

Chieli - Oh, that's nice I appreciate hearing that. I try to make melodies that are more sing able but it depends on the point of view of the song. If you want to come up with a melody that would work well with an instrument then it's good to sing it. The opening cut "Get on Up" it's just a big groove you know and there's really not much to it. I loved it without a melody I just loved the rhythm but when it was time to come up with the right melody I just kept singing with the song over and over again and messing around with stupid lyrics and in the end the melody came out where it was. It was kind of a vocal oriented kind of melody.

John - I liked the fretless Bass on "Dusk Till Dawn."

Chieli - In "Dusk Till Dawn" it was kind of a Jaco Pastorius bass line. That's Gerry Brooks playing that and he nailed that thing.

John - When I first heard it I thought it was sampled.

Chieli - The keyboards doubled for him at one point but that's him.

John - I was just listening to the first Jaco Pastorius album where he looks like Chris Kattan of Saturday Night Live but anyway it's an amazing shake your head album.

Chieli - I have a few favorite Jaco pieces and one is "Teen Town" that he did with Weather Report and "Birdland" and "(Used to Be) Cha Cha" which is from his first solo album. I'm just in awe. Anything that has anything to do with Herbie Hancock or Chick Corea back then I loved those things. You know there's another thing about this new "Party" record that is a departure for me and that's to feature David Mann and not myself. What I'm trying to do is use Special EFX as a writing workshop for myself but to feature new artists.

John - He's new to a lot of people but David has played with you as a solo act and with you as Special EFX right?

Chieli - Yeah, he's in the band live as well and I really wanted him to be the featured guy. I figured that if this works then maybe the next time the record company well let me bring in a brand new artist that no ones heard of and really get them established.

John - "Dreams Come True" is a great sax song. David sounds great.

Chieli - He does. There are a lot of songs on this record that are like that, that are great saxophone songs and that's deliberate. I'm trying to differentiate things. A few years ago we thought George (Jinda) was going to get well but he didn't and then he passed away. So, now I'm producing solo records and Special EFX and already I've crossed over to where they sound the same sometimes so this is just an effort to differentiate stylistically and to go in different areas.

John - So you consciously want to do that.

Chieli - Oh yeah.

John - Now what people would be asking is what differentiates the two of them? I like it how on different tracks you sound like a different guy.

Chieli - Yeah, I guess that happens sometimes and as a listener I like that too. You know with Eric Clapton, he plays with three distinct Eric Clapton's to me. My background the song that is called "Without You" which has this long guitar solo at the end of it, that is the kind of guitar playing I have always been known to do by most of the people that are close to me. But when we started making these contemporary Jazz records we had to clean up the tone.

John - I like "Without You" because it builds and builds and I really like that song.

Chieli - Yeah, man thanks. I think that a lot of musicians have a lot of sides to them and when you are making a record you try to focus in a little bit. I think that when it comes to instrumental records it is safe to go ahead and be more versatile if possible and even eclectic.

John - I was just talking to Chuck Loeb and when I was talking to him I felt like I had known the guy forever and he was just one of those guys. Interestingly I talked to Kim Waters that week as well and he is a really nice guy and a little harder to read because he is so laid back. But when Chuck and I were talking I said to him and I feel the same way about you is that because of the confines of the format it is so regulated but he gets as much music in there and gets as much stuff under the wire and pushes the envelope at the same time. That is a good combination and I think this format needs that combination.

Chieli - I actually kind of disagree with you. I think the format is really wide open and what gets played on the radio that's on the play lists perhaps is partly representative and I remember as far back as 1989 when New Age music was the taste of the day as far as instrumental music went. As a result of that we put anything that was mid-tempo or a ballad we put that further up the sequence on a CD because that was the style. But by the time you are done listening to the whole CD there are all the different things in there and I always believed that a record should have a nice variety. Music has always been about moods and stuff especially instrumental music.

John - Well, going back to your solo album for instance when I heard "Without You" building and you are just wailing on the guitar I thought that Smooth Jazz radio won't touch this one but this is another side that you might have not know of this musician if you just listen to radio.

Chieli - That's true and if you just listen to radio you'd never know that I do stuff like that and if you come to the concerts that is all that we are doing. When we do the single from that record called "Kicking It Hard" that song when we do it live it is a funky little thing and everybody is getting really clever with their licks and it really gets going at certain points. The approach I do to guitar playing in that song that's the way I am. Click on the other channel of the amplifier and there is that tone waiting, it's just kind of waiting there you know. (Laughing)

John - You know I was there in the beginning and don't get me wrong I like the combination when it was called NAC and I like it now and I liked the variety but unfortunately a lot of the New Age stuff stations were playing was not up to par but back then when they were hungry for so much New Age I think everyone's dog was releasing a New Age album. (Laughing)

Chieli - Oh yeah. There was a lot of horrible stuff that came out and it is always like that with a style that becomes popular.

John - Yeah, that's true and they are like fighting over each other for some new music. I like it the way it is now and do you have any other thoughts on radio and are you happy? Obviously it has been good to you.

Chieli - Well, it is okay. It is a double edged sword. My philosophy is pretty much been the same for years. When Kenny G became as popular as he did, it was a great thing and not only for him but for many of us. A whole new batch of consumers wanted to check out what they thought they were listening to as Jazz. As a result of that masses of people were going into the store and they wanted to check out Kenny G and anything like it. Even a guitar driven band like mine fell into that a little bit. So, that was very nice and for a few years it was great and as a result of that huge success radio discovered what worked best. The formula that worked the best was the one that was there in the 70's which is Earl Klugh, Grover Washington and Lee Ritenour which is R&B Jazz and that has always been the common denominator that has appealed to most of the masses. It is the most accessible it has a lot of nice opportunities so people can hear guys jam out and improvise but harmonically the music is not too crazy and the rhythms are simple enough where people can identify them.

John - Interestingly it works still even here.

Chieli - It is classic and Smooth Jazz is just another name for what was around then and that's the classic R&B Jazz that people have always loved and they have just gone full circle now and settled back into it. Radio stations of course know who their listeners are now and as a result of that they won't play certain things. I will tell you one thing that here in New York CD101.9 they have some cool shows that they put on later at night time. They have Latin shows, straight ahead Jazz show and historical shows. It is just nice to have a radio station like that.

John - I was talking to Allen Kepler and he said a lot of people think he is the anti Christ at Broadcast Architecture and he said he understands them and the purist and if he was them he probably wouldn't like it either and he would probably be phoning the radio station twenty years down the road and saying, "I have been listening to you for twenty years and I still hate ya!" Those are the people who complain an awful lot, their purists and that's all they got but they still listen to it.

Chieli - If it wasn't for some of these stations a lot of bands including my own wouldn't tour as much as we do. When we play in certain cities it is like a big deal that we are showing up. I remember when we went on tour in the 80's granted there wasn't any real radio stations to speak of at the time and we toured a lot and we were just any band.

John - Before the format though Chieli, what were you guys billed as? Specifically let me ask you about the early days with Special EFX when you were touring then the format didn't start until 1987 so before then what where you billed as? What kind of band were you.

Chieli - I thought we were a fusion band and I know we were. Sometimes we were labeled as the greatest fusion band in the world and we had all kinds of nicknames but it was billed as Contemporary Instrumental music or New age Jazz.