Chilly Gonzales

»Solo Piano« (2004) was released when Chilly Gonzales was still a pioneer in evoking the dying genres of classical music and jazz and dragged them kicking and screaming into the 21st century. This album of accidental virtuosity surprised everyone, including the self-described »musical genius« himself.

»Solo Piano II« (2012) was a pop mini-masterpiece for a wired world, a transition to a new reality. By then, the legendary entertainer and A-list collaborator (Drake, Daft Punk, Feist) Chilly Gonzales delivered a catchy, polished collection; he was aiming to please and ready for prime time. The sequel definitively satisfied an ever-increasing audience hungry for Gonzo’s imperfectly perfect miniatures.

»Solo Piano III« completes the »Solo Piano« trilogy, and comes at a more problematic time. Like any final act, there are complications and consequences, followed by an urgent race to the finish line. Like its predecessors, it is 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.