Review: Chilly Gonzales Solo Piano Show @ RNCM, 02/12/12

You go to a solo piano gig of about 100 capacity at the RNCM, you expect to hear some pretty good piano music of the genre the performing artist belongs to. When the performing artist is Chilly Gonzales however, it becomes a whole lot more than just that.

Appearing on stage in his normal gig attire of dressing gown and slippers, he sits down at the piano and plays a couple of songs from him solo piano albums -  and that alone is breathtaking enough. But that's literally just the beginning.

After the first couple of tracks the Canadian musician starts talking to the audience and begins with what could possibly be described as the most fascinating, witty, funny, educating, non-interactive piano lesson ever, combining practical explanations of ‘arpeggio’ and ‘ostinato’ and concluding with a performance of 'Train of Thought' from his Solo Piano II.

Then we see Gonzales carry on talking… but not quite. He's actually rapping. I never thought I would describe rapping as 'charming', but thinking back this term seems apt. Another music lesson followed, this time on the different rhythms and times kept in different music genres, his view of rap and reasons behind getting into it. And all the while he was playing the piano for just the right amount of time - sometime longer, sometimes shorter - but always the right amount to support his talk and keep you watching as intensely as possible. By this time the atmosphere in the room was full of energy, amazement and I would go as far as to say love for the man in front of the piano. Gonzales’ request for a little humming from the audience along to his piano playing made you feel more involved in the music in the room than you would ever have expected or imagined.

And if all this wasn’t enough to leave you going home happy - which it really was - the last part of the performance went a bit further back into the history of music to explain the major and minor (happy and sad) chords in the context of the rich and the poor of society, the people in the palaces listening to the happy anthems and the proletariat listening to the melancholic, deep, dark compositions. It was a triumphant moment for lefty piano lovers in the room to see Gonzales play some of the most famously 'happy' songs in minor chords, from Bach’s 'Minuet in G' to 'Happy Birthday'.

A much desired encore (a rare thing) closed what had been an absolutely breathtaking performance - and one which was certainly enough to put Gonzales in my list of “watch live whenever possible” artists.

Words: Tania Kay

Photo: Alexandre Isard

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