George Jinda -

George Jinda (June 4, 1941 — Jan. 11, 2001) was a Hungarian drummer, composer, and producer who played with the French jazz-rock supergroup Speed Limit on two albums during the mid-1970s. Concurrently, the band backed him on his singular headlining album from the era, The Wheel of Love, released in 1975 on Motors

Thanks for posting this!!! George was born in 1941 and was a jazz drummer originally who worked on the local Hungarian jazzscene. Miles Davis was his hero (as where his drummers Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette). He lived in France for awhile in the 70s and was active in the jazz-rock scene there: Speed Limit and other groups. During that time he developed a love for percussion instruments, especially African and Brazilian ones. Jinda moved to New York City in 1977, where his first wife, a Hungarian model, had a lot of work. He always remained a resident there. During the end of the 70s he slowly entered the jazz-rock scene in NYC. Through jamsessions (loft sessions) he met other musicians and with them he tried to get a group together to get a record deal. It did not succeed until he met young guitar virtuoso and composer Chieli Minucci (born 1958) in 1982. They had an instant connection both musically and personally and soon established the band Special Delivery. George got them a record deal with a small Dutch label soon (Keytone Records) and in just a few days the recorded their very first album. After two more years, George succeeded in getting a major label deal with up and coming fusion / jazzrock label GRP (Grusin Rosen Productions) and the rest is history. They changed their name to Special EFX (because they discovered there was already another band called Special Delivery) and recorded their first album for GRP in 1985. That’s when they broke through on the American fusion scene, got more and more radio airplay and toured extensively from that moment on (average of 60 shows a year), playing across the US and on major jazz festivals in Europe. After years of records and touring George and Chieli parted ways amicably in 1995. Soon after that, at the end of 1996, George had a terrible asthma attack that left him in a coma. When he awoke after weeks, he had lost his ability to speak and move properly. He spend the next 5 years in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics before passing away in January 2002 from complications. RIP George Jinda, a true blue original, as a musician and as a humanbeing (ever-sunglassed, quirky, slightly eccentric….always himself).

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