Rock and Pop: Chilly Gonzales @ Scala
Published: 2 December, 2010
by NORMANDIE HOCHE
WHAT do Beethoven, George Michael and Survivor have in common? They all came together for a good old chinwag under the watchful eyes of Chilly Gonzales at Scala last week.
Boldly sporting a white suit with red socks and a pair of sleepers, Gonzales demonstrated how he has mastered the art of mixing the unmixable.
“I’ve lost 6 kilos,” the Canadian pianist announced proudly, but, music-wise, he was as heavy as a Texan couch potato.
It’s almost as if Gonzales – who taught himself piano at the age of three – was born with notes attached to his fingers.
The night was an excuse to showcase Gonzales’s new album, Ivory Tower, the soundtrack for an eponymous film written by and starring the man himself.
On songs like I am Europe, Chilly’s talents as a pianist, rapper and writer become obvious: “I’m an imperial armpit sweating Chianti, I’m socialist lingerie, I’m diplomatic techno, I'm gay pastry and racist cappuccino – who am I?”
The man who likes to call himself “Uncle Gonzo” had the whole audience wishing their aunt had married someone else.