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

Chilly Gonzales: Collaborators + Transcript

Unless you’ve been living in a proverbial cave, you’re probably heard that Daft Punk has soon-to-be-released album (Random Access Memories), and Chilly Gonzales is one of the collaborators! @Daftworld let it slip last December:

His Collaborators video is educational (a Gonzales trademark) and enlightening. Weiterlesen

Solo Piano III & IV

With 13 dates left in his Spring European tour (and more dates in Summer), Chilly Gonzales was interviewed by “Sud Ouest” (South West), which covers news for 50 towns and villages in regional France.

In the interview, Gonzales reveals that, for him, the best way to connect with rappers or electro artists (e.g. Daft Punk and Drake) is through the piano – though lush harmonies that bring a ‘human’ element to the otherwise programmed sound. In some ways, incorporating the ‘voice’ of the piano and Gonzales’ harmonies provides electro-based songs with a ‘soul’. Weiterlesen

Master Class!

Starting with its inventor Franz Liszt, master classes provide students (professional and amateur alike) an opportunity to learn and be inspired by an accomplished concert performer. Many concertgoers have had an impromptu piano lesson (a master class) in the middle of a Gonzales concert, but During Chilly Gonzales’ current tour of France, he took time out to give a master class with students from two schools: La Classe Orchestre du Collège Saint-Exupéry and la Classe Vocale du Collège Jules Simon de Vannes. 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

Gonz on Later

Recent tweets between Gonzales and a follower brought an injustice to our attention:

Weiterlesen

The “Downloadable” Gonzales

Chilly Gonzales has made practically every song from Solo Piano Notebooks 1 & 2 available online. That’s a total of 33 songs to download, print and start playing within minutes! There are a few options for downloading and using the sheet music; here a short guide. Weiterlesen

Mantel von Morgen: Chilly Gonzales und sein Bühnenoutfit

MantelImmer 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

Chewing on the Stereogum Interview

StereogumT. Cole Rachel’s interview with Gonzales is a captivating read. Admitting that Solo Piano II was his “most played” record of 2012, Cole goes on to elicit detailed comments from Gonzales. It appears that Cole is more than happy to prod from time-to-time, letting Gonzales’ train of thought run its natural course. Weiterlesen

“Gonzified” Piano Lesson Videos

About a year ago, Gonzales was in London to record a series of “Piano Lessons for Lapsed Students”. At that time, he asked the Twitterverse what topics they would like covered in piano lessons and received a number of responses (most were covered). Later, during a rapid-fire Twitter interview session, he indicated that the lessons would be available in summer: Weiterlesen