When I witnessed Cameron Carpenter mastering his International Touring Organ and making this incredible machine come alive in Zurich last Sunday night, I instantly had Chilly Gonzales’ words in mind, when he called The BBC Symphony Orchestra he played with in London 2012 “the world’s most expensive synthesizer”. It was apparently another fulfilled longing to have one of those “synthesizers” all to himself. Carpenter’s digital organ might be even more expensive, the inner urge to create such an instrument, find sponsors and then actually use it, is the same. The obvious connection between the two musicians – apart from their dedication to key instruments – as Chilly Gonzales would put it: They are men of their (and our) time. They have a vision – the vision to take music to the next level. To keep the roots, but cut the weed. To not see music as something written in stone, but something versatile, adaptable and re-inventable as well as re-interpretative.So in an ideal world, these two should work together and as we sometimes like to daydream at SoloGonzales, we already have an idea how: with harpsichordist Christopher Lewis on board in a concert dedicated to “The Evolution of the Keys”. Weiterlesen
Archiv des Autors: Katharina
Chilly “Grammy” Gonzales!
After being nominated in 2008 with Feist for “The Reminder”, Chilly Gonzales’ name finally echoed through the holy halls of the Staples Center in Los Angeles last night, when he received a Grammy for his contribution to Daft Punk’s RAM. Weiterlesen
Rolling Stone Covers Chilly Gonzales
Record labels have been dressing up musicians in magical and sometimes ridiculous clothes for many years, while audiences have basked in the glory of the latest disposable brain tickler. But there is a growing chorus of people who have taken to the internet to “undress” mindless pop stars exposing what’s left: shallowness and vanity, and at the same time, revealing the music industry’s greed and ostentatiousness. These individuals recognize that musicians have been swindled and are merely pawns in the big-money world of music. Gonzales has openly identified all of this for years, and his voice is finally being heard. The people are shouting that there is a new Emperor in town. And the Emperor doesn’t show up naked. He wears a robe. “Der neue Kaiser” – that’s what the German issue of Rolling Stone recently called Chilly Gonzales in a four pager about his rising fame and the future of music. Weiterlesen
The World Is a Record And Chilly Gonzales Holds It
This month we celebrate Chilly Gonzales’ World Record breaking performance 4 years ago, when he beat his inner self, played the piano for 27 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds and entered the Guinness Book of World Records. In honour of this occasion, we give you an insight into our archives and show you a collection of photos that I took during the event. They may not be examples of great photographic art, but they visualise the special atmosphere and eternalise a concert that wasn’t only legendary because of its length, but because of the inspiration and tacit message it spread.
Zwei ausverkaufte Shows: London feiert den Pianobullen und seine Filetstücke
Wegen zweier Jungs im Roboterkostüm ist Chilly Gonzales derzeit in aller Munde. Leises Gemunkel gab es dementsprechend auch im Vorfeld der beiden Konzerte in der Londoner Cadogan Hall vergangene Woche, ob er seinen Song vom neuen Daft Punk-Album zumindest anspielen würde. Das tat er. Und wer ein Beethoven’sches Hirn hat, der konnte dabei sogar etwas hören, also quasi vor dem geistigen Ohr. Denn tatsächlich ließ er nur lautlos die Finger über die Tasten gleiten, was aber dank der gigantischen Video-Projektion, welche sich unter dem Dach der umgewidmeten Kirche auf voller Bühnenbreite erstreckte, von jedem Platz aus zu sehen war. Weiterlesen
The Master Remastered
Today is International Chilly Gonzales Day aka Chilly Gonzales’ birthday. We honor His Musical Geniusness by letting others serenade him. Therefore, we compiled a selection of Gonzales fans playing his songs on YouTube. Actually, once you’ve dived deep into the waters of moving Gonzales appreciation images, you are most likely to drown or you decide to just catch some pearls and resurface. So here is a collection of people going all Gonzo and proof of what an inspiration Chilly Gonzales is to many. We tried to categorize them as good as we could. Weiterlesen
Working Holidays
Once passion met profession, the way you earn money doesn’t feel like work in a classical sense anymore and the term “holidays” becomes superfluous. So it is only logical that Chilly Gonzales, between two tours*, doesn’t relax on a Southeast Asian beach getting a well-deserved massage or manicure of his precious hands, but seems to plot new collaborations and masterpieces. So there has been quite some news during the past week. What has made the internet community turn crazy – and above all the Daft Punk disciples – is the fact that Chilly Gonzales’ piano contribution to the electrorobot-duo’s forthcoming album has been confirmed. Weiterlesen
New York, New York
His first October-scheduled Lincoln Center show in New York was gone with the wind, or better: blown away by superstorm Sandy. Last Friday, it seemed the Weather God still hasn’t turned into a Chilly Gonzales fan. According to numerous tweets, people queued along the street for hours to see his two substitutional shows – in the pouring rain. It was an outpour of praise in the end which proves that it was obviously worth it. Weiterlesen
Chilly Gonzales in Köln und die Liebe zur Harmonie
Als Zeitgenosse Händels oder Mozarts blieben höchstens drei Möglichkeiten, wenn einem der Sinn nach Musik stand: Rezeption im Konzertsaal, eigenes Musizieren oder man hatte das Glück adliger Geburt und konnte sie als Bestandteil höfischen Lebens genießen. Mittlerweile ist Musik glücklicherweise stets verfüg- und reproduzierbar, und doch fühlte es sich am Samstag, 29. Dezember, fast ein bisschen so an, als wären Datenträger noch gar nicht erfunden. Denn Chilly Gonzales bot so viel neue und vor allem leider bisher unveröffentlichte Stücke dar, dass der Genuss zwar groß, aber das Bewusstsein um die Vergänglich- und Einmaligkeit allgegenwärtig war. Der Faustsche Vers: „Zum Augenblicke dürft’ ich sagen: Verweile doch, du bist so schön!“ hätte dem finalen Konzert im Jahr 2012 als Motto dienen können. Vielleicht war es jedoch auch der Fingerzeig in die Zukunft und in Richtung „mehr Orchester“? Weiterlesen
Mantel von Morgen: Chilly Gonzales und sein Bühnenoutfit
Immer dann, wenn in Filmen eine der Figuren im Morgenmantel auftaucht, ist klar: Es folgt ein Ausschnitt, der in der Realität ganz sicher ohne Publikum stattfinden würde. Chilly Gonzales Markenzeichen ist der Morgenmantel, er trägt ihn sogar bei Auftritten mit großem und ehrbarem Orchester. Und selbst wenn es sich hier natürlich ebenfalls – wie im Film – um ein Kostüm handelt, lässt ihn das unmaskiert und nahbar erscheinen. Weiterlesen