Special EFX (George Jinda) in 2 albums [1984 Special EFX, 1985 Modern Manners] [FLAC limited time only]

 

After that brilliant one-off from George Jinda I was curious to know what he put out following.

This is a mid-1980s smooth fusion band, that I was surprised was quite presentable, at least in their first 2 earliest albums.  Description:

Smooth jazz outfit with a distinctive Latin/African vibe. Formed in 1982 by guitarist Chieli Minucci and drummer/percussionist George Jinda. Having recorded 13 albums they split amicably in 1995 after releasing 'Body Language'. George Jinda retained the use of the Special EFX name and recorded the album 'Here To Stay' before being incapaciated after suffering a stroke in 1997. The Special EFX name was handed back to Chieli Minucci who has since recorded and toured as Chieli Minucci and Special EFX.

Notably, the compositions are interesting and not as generic as one might suppose, for this time period. The closing track I think was written by Jinda, and it's called Katalin:

The next album is just as good, Modern Manners.  From that one, After One Empty Step (cowritten by Jinda and the keyboardist just posted, Szakcsi):

Buttermilk Falls (same two composers, I can't stand that Hungarian name's spelling, lol)

George Jinda's 1976 fusionary masterpiece The Wheel of Love

 

A few French posts, starting with this beautiful classic of gallic fusion which to my eyes / ears is highly underrated and neglected.

George Jinda:

Hungarian percussionist, born in Budapest, Hungary, passed away January 11, 2002

He was in the wonderful early French fusion band Speed Limit, along with keyboardist Jean-Louis Bucchi who reappears here.  Jean-Louis was posted on this blog before with his library LP, Reportages.  He made the gorgeous Sunflower in 1978, one of the touchstones for me of advanced French progressive music. 

His Nostalgia composition for this LP is equally amazing, and he is responsible for contributing 4 tracks to this release:

The way his musical mind works in that composition just awes me totally, the originality and beauty of it.

American Vogue, which was written by bassist Didier Batard, who will show up again shortly:

Absolution, which was written by beloved sax player Jeff / Yoch'ko Seffer (who appeared many times on this blog, most recently back here):

Apart from these contributors, there are 3 tracks here which were written by Jinda himself.

Kazimierz Jonkisz Quintet in 1980's Tiritaka

 

I found this nice Polish fusion album from 1980 in connection with String Connection, who were posted back here.  Information on this one on this page.

Sample track, Tuohitorvi:

Szakcsi - Sa-Chi, 1988

Pianist who was also in Saturnus, this is a lovely synthesizer / keyboard album from 1988 with a lot of nice sounds and melancholy moods.

The attractive Ria:

And hopefully you'll agree that the shimmering synth chords under the tinkling high-treble grand piano melody is really atmospherically gorgeous, almost soundtrack-like of course, in Orange and Black:

The Sounds Of Synanon / The Synanon Choir – The Prince Of Peace: A Rock-Jazz Cantata [1969] by request, FLAC limited time only

 

As discogs indicates, this group is a:

Group connected to the drug rehabilitation program.

Wikipedia entry here, where it's described as a cult and a typical one at that, with the usual child abuse, forcible confinement, ridiculous messianic leader and gradual descent into violence as the group believes it's above the law.  Amazing how common the story was and still is, and to this day there are countless such cults in existence all over the world I'm sure.

With LP Notes:

Rush released by Epic Records the soundtrack of the color television special "The'Prince of Peace" to coincide with the show's national premiere on the Metromedia Network on Sunday, June 8, 1969.

Unfortunately I would say the music is very straightforward jazz-rock composing, similar to the style in the 1960s of jazz operas.  Sample, Quiet Sky:

Note that the music was composed by someone called Greg Dykes.