Veteran smooth-jazz guitarist and former Special EFX principal Chieli Minucci offers more of his wide-ranging guitar artistry on Got It Goin’ On (Shanachie). There’s plenty to enjoy here, like the funky dueling basses on “Deeper Than Deep,” the evocative “Destiny,” which opens daintily and morphs into a funky groover, and the dark-hued “Denial.” Minucci wrote or cowrote all of the tracks on the album except “Love Is Always Young,” which was written by his father, composer Ulpio Minucci. The track is one of the album’s standouts: a delicate, elegant ballad with a touch of melancholy that Minucci eloquently articulates with layered guitars. The bright, cheery “Stars in Your Eyes,” featuring saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa and guitarist Steve Oliver on vocals, proves an upbeat way to open the album, and Minucci and saxophonist Marion Meadows trade off playfully on the spirited romp “The Juice.” Minucci revisits the Special EFX tune “Still Waiting” and the new version, propelled by tribal percussion and colored with a Middle Eastern musical flavor, ends the album on a dramatic note.
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