Name: Solo Piano II
Brand: Gentle Threat
SKU: 30057697
Price: 21.53 GBP
Availability: InStock

Solo Piano II

Rating

Album: Solo Piano II
#	Song Title		Time
1)	White Keys	More Info...
2)	Kenaston	More Info...
3)	Minor Fantasy	More Info...
4)	Escher	More Info...
5)	Rideaux Lunaires	More Info...
6)	Nero's Nocturne	More Info...
7)	Venetian Blinds	More Info...
8)	Evolving Doors	More Info...
9)	Epigram in E	More Info...
10)	Othello	More Info...
11)	Train of Thought	More Info...
12)	Wintermezzo	More Info...
13)	La Bulle	More Info...
14)	Papa Gavotte	More Info...

Album: Solo Piano II
#	Song Title		Time
1)	White Keys	More Info...
2)	Kenaston	More Info...
3)	Minor Fantasy	More Info...
4)	Escher	More Info...
5)	Rideaux Lunaires	More Info...
6)	Nero's Nocturne	More Info...
7)	Venetian Blinds	More Info...
8)	Evolving Doors	More Info...
9)	Epigram in E	More Info...
10)	Othello	More Info...
11)	Train of Thought	More Info...
12)	Wintermezzo	More Info...
13)	La Bulle	More Info...
14)	Papa Gavotte	More Info...

Performer Notes

It's fair to say that Chilly Gonzales has not followed a traditional career path. Early on a comedy rapper with surprising wit, later a foil to his touring counterpart Peaches, still later a Berlin-based dance producer of throwback house, and, finally, through it all (going back to his college days at McGill University), a composer for piano and performer, he's followed a career arc that probably isn't even visible to Gonzales himself. His first album of Solo Piano appeared in 2004, revealing his skills on the keyboard to be primarily as a contemplative pastoralist rather than a furious virtuoso. (Conserving energy is likely what helped him break a Guinness world record for the longest solo concert, playing piano over two days in May 2009.) This style actually proved quite appealing to fans of his varied approach to music-making, much more so than any Sony Masterworks type of classical superstar. (Granted, anyone who's stuck around over the past 20 years, from his days in the alternative band Son to The Entertainist to Solo Piano II, has been nothing if not patient.) The second volume is quite similar to the first, with several nods to masters of the impressionist piano (Erik Satie, Fr?d?ric Chopin). Gonzales also proves willing and able to be more playful than he has in the past, perhaps a nod to his frequent scoring of films; the solo piano form often harks back to the days of silent film, and that's an easy reference to make here. Since he's not a world-class performer, most classical fans won't find music of interest here, but Solo Piano II is an engaging record with a personality all its own. ~ John Bush

Professional Reviews

Q (Magazine) (p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's a low-pressure affair....There's entrancing listening here, flavoured with ambivalence and apprehension..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.88) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "SOLO PIANO II offers a litany of brief, mellifluous, vaguely jazzy mood sketches, fluidly mapping a terrain both playful and emotionally resonant..."