Chilly Gonzales - Koerner Hall (April 21/15)

Settling in on his piano bench Chilly must have already been comfortable, not simply because he was dressed in his now traditional bathrobe and slippers but because he was about to play a homecoming. Although a European resident for many years now and a consummate performer regardless of locale I'm sure, there still seemed to be something special in the air here in the Great North. Without a word he focused on his piano for a prolonged moment before bringing his hands from his lap to the keys. From there he impressed with a few solo piano songs (not necessarily from the compilations with the same title) before finally bringing out the Kaiser Quartet. To applause they took their positions, violin 1 and 2, viola and cello, and then continued to just hold these positions while Chilly played an entire song until coming in for literally the last note - an A minor. "My Crazy Horse" he would introduce them as - Gonzo's playful side beginning to show. A performer through and through, he had a flair during his playing as well as a number of other tricks. As banter he often acted as a teacher, explaining some musical elements with audible examples (we did hear The Eagles, however briefly, not wanting that to be the one takeaway) and history likened to contemporary pop culture (Wagner is Kanye but also Tupac). Yes the quartet (plus drummer) were sometimes used as props but he also obviously had high respect for the group who played excellently and took everything in good humour. Before his first rap he broke out the bongos and played a sample of Beethoven's 5th (or LVB as he preferred to refer to him) but carried on with the bongos for his own tune. Although he did also rap Supervillain Music, Self Portrait (a great Nick Cage quip) and a couple others these were less prominent than straight instrumental. Personal favourite The Grudge was introduced by saying it had been converted from a piano track to a "banger" by Boys Noize and then he had to convert it back. The change was noticeable in a slower version but also of note, despite the semi-frequent curses that littered the songs it was "sick f&%!" that was changed to "schmuck" and the first half of "put it in your mouth/so you won't see it coming" was dropped altogether (plus he added "supposedly" before "hit him in the stomach" when talking about what led to Houdini's death.) A few others from Ivory Tower made the set, as did a song that he showed was in the attached school's grade 9 piano book before dramatically throwing it away with a dismissive "I don't need this - I wrote it!" At the end of the set, after a hum-along, a nearly instantaneous standing ovation was put up which was warranted, for despite being mostly instrumental (not my fave) it was highly engaging and a thoroughly unique show. Upon his encore return with the crew he claimed to be a "musical genius" and then stood upon the keys of his piano (cringe!) to rap (Not a) Musical Genius. The second encore didn't seem that unheard of considering to that point Never Stop hadn't been heard (instrumental). However the third and final outing just saw Chilly and the cellist for a song announced to a groan as Cello Gonzales, from recent Chamber Music. Even after that many reappearances, all of which spurred by standing applause, I would have been content to settle back in for another set. Not that I wasn't satisfied but more that I was thoroughly enjoying the mix of music, classical elements melded with contemporary pop, plus learning a few things and the comedy of it all from Chilly's unique flair. A non-traditional concert but an excellent one of a kind.