Chilly Gonzales and Chico Marx: New album Solo Piano III

 The tempo shift happened when Chilly Gonzales discovered Chico Marx. Through a screening of the Marx Brothers film A Night At The Opera, it was the childhood moment when he unsnarled his strict classical piano training and glimpsed a new way to play piano. To see Chico Marx play the piano and blow the mind of his audience while creating such a playful yet sophisticated, but silly childlike experience really stood out in contrast to the pretty stiff atmosphere of my music lessons. I credit Chico Marx with showing me that the piano could be used as a tool of righteous entertainment.

Today he unveils his new song, Chicofrom his upcoming album ‘Solo Piano III’, out via Gentle Threat on September 7, 2018. Named for this early childhood inspiration and dedicated to the modern-day equivalent of Marx (and accomplished Berklee-trained bassist) American Comedian Eric André, the song embodies both Marx’ and André’ ethos; Chico is playful stopping/starting, shifting, edge-of-your-seat musical storytelling.

Watch and share ‘Chico’ in PIANOVISION here: https://youtu.be/hfFyO65ufIg

 

Find links to all of Chilly Gonzales’ music on various platforms at chillygonzales.com
ABOUT CHILLY GONZALES & SOLO PIANO III

Grammy-winning Canadian pianist, entertainer and composer Chilly Gonzales will release the final album of his Solo Piano trilogy, Solo Piano III, on September 7th, 2018. The album comes six years after Solo Piano II and, according to Gonzales, at “more problematic inflection point”.  “Like its predecessors, it’s a mostly happy ending in C major, but there is more dissonance, tension and ambiguity along the way… The musical purity of Solo Piano III is not an antidote for our times, it is a reflection of all the beauty and ugliness around us.”

Known as much for the intimate piano touch of best-selling albums Solo Piano I and Solo Piano II as for his showmanship and composition for award-winning stars, “Gonzo”, as he is known to close collaborators, aims to be a man of his time, approaching the piano with classical and jazz training but with the attitude of a rapper. He holds the Guinness world record for the longest solo concert at over 27 hours. He performs and writes songs with Jarvis Cocker, Feist and Drake, among others, with recent collaborators including the likes of Ibeyi and Toddla T. With Never Stop, Chilly Gonzales composed a global hit for the inaugural Apple iPad 2 campaign. In 2014 he won a Grammy for his collaboration on Daft Punk‘Best Album of the Year’ and composed the best-selling book of easy piano pieces Re-Introduction Etudes. With his last album Chambers, Chilly Gonzales devoted himself to finding a modern take on chamber music.

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TOUR DATES
2018 
Fri 31 Aug – GENEVA – Centre des Arts of École Internationale de Genève
Sat 01 Sept – GENEVA – Centre des Arts of École Internationale de Genève
Sun 02 Sept – GENEVA – Centre des Arts of École Internationale de Genève
Fri 7 Sept – LONDON – Cadogan Hall
Sat 8 Sept – LEEDS – Howard Assembly Rooms
Mon 10 Sept – LONDON – Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank Center)
Tue 11 Sept – MANCHESTER – Royal Northern College of Music
Tue 18 Sept – KÖLN 1LIVE – SPIII Pop Music Masterclass Concert LIVESTREAM
Sat 22 Sept – PARIS – Collège des Bernardins
Mon 24 Sept – PARIS – Salle Gaveau
Tue 25 Sept – PARIS – Salle Gaveau
Wed 26 Sept – PARIS – Salle Gaveau
Thur 18 Oct – TORONTO – Koerner Hall
Sat 20 Oct – TORONTO – Koerner Hall
Mon 22 Oct – OTTAWA – Southam Hall at National Arts Center
Wed 24 Oct – QUEBEC CITY – Palais Montcalm
Fri 26 Oct – MONTREAL – Maison Symphonique at Place des Arts
Sat 27 Oct – MONTREAL – Maison Symphonique at Place des Arts
Wed 21 Nov – BERLIN – Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Thur 22 Nov – BERLIN – Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Fri 23 Nov – BERLIN – Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Sat 8 Dec – AMSTERDAM – Koninklijk Theatre Carré
Tue 11 Dec – HAMBURG – Laeiszhalle
Sat 15 Dec – DORTMUND – Konzerthaus
Fri 28 Dec  – KÖLN – Philharmonie
Sat 29 Dec – KÖLN – Philharmonie

2019 
Fri 15 Feb – BORDEAUX – Théâtre Femina
Sat 16 Feb – BORDEAUX – Théâtre Femina
Sun 17 Feb – TOULOUSE – La Halle aux Grains
Sun 3 Mar – LUXEMBOURG – Philharmonie
Tue 5 March – BRUXELLES – Bozart
Fri 8 March – FRANKFURT – Alte Oper
Sun 10 March – STUTTGART – Beethovensaal
Thur 21 March – DÜSSELDORF – Tonhalle
Mon 22 April – LEIPZIG – Gewandhaus
Tue 23 April – BERLIN – Philharmonie
Sat 27 April – MUNICH – Herkulessaal

ON TV THIS FALL
Chilly Gonzales profiled as part of In The Making on CBC TV
Episode airs October 19, 2018.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TatE4Oj8rug

IN CINEMAS THIS AUTUMN
Shut Up and Play the Piano
82 mins. career retrospective documentary directed by Philipp Jedicke
First premiered at 2018 Berlinale Film Festival. Being released on October 5, 2018 in North America. The film will screen at Pop Montreal as Film POP 2018’s official closing film on Sunday, September 30, 2018. https://popmontreal.com/en/calendar/enspectacle/shut-up-and-play-the-piano/2018-71216/