Genius

In music and other fields of “the arts”, there are circus artists and virtuosos or in other words interpreters and creatives. The “acrobats” of arts are splendid technichians and differ from ordinary mortals in the superior performance of a certain skill, often called talent. This does not necessarily come with creativeness. An extraordinary singer only rarely writes his hit songs him- or herself. The Chinese pianist Lang Lang for example, may master his instrument majestically. Although, he makes his money with renditions, meaning he “re-plays” existing compositions and does not present own material.

Chilly Gonzales calls himself “musical genius”. Some may find that presumptuous. Still, who ever delved into the Chilly Gonzales universe or has witnessed one of his shows, would agree that in this case it is not another wearout of the word, but finally its correct use. A genius by definition, does not only define itself by embodying a certain skill, it always adds its intellectuality, power of mind, a part of itself – and that again in in an outstanding manner. Almost everything Chilly Gonzales performs on stage comes from his own quill. If he wants to play with an orchestra, he composes his own piano concerto or brings his invention of “orchestral rap” into concert halls. Regarding the latter he did not only write the scores, he also polished every pun he penned until it is hot enough to be dropped. He crosses many genres and makes them his own. And sometimes he even switches art forms. “Ivory Tower” is one example for it and his first movie, in which he is responsible for almost anything including the corresponding album.

This section is dedicated to the genius of Chilly Gonzales in the old Latin/Greek sense, to the creator or literally “generative power”.

An acrobat playing the piano may be nimble-fingered, the genius, in addition to it, is unique. So it is no surprise that Chilly Gonzales does not want to be called an artist only.