Chilly Gonzales & Kaiser Quartett, Southbank Centre

Chilly Gonzales has had one of pop music’s most unique careers. He first came to audiences’ attention with an oddball rap album The Entertainist (2000) whose track-list boasted titles like ‘The Worst MC Part 2.’ Since then, he’s undergone a series of creative reinventions, and is now best known as a virtuosic pianist.
This transition started in 2004 with the release of Solo Piano. Far from the kind of tongue-in-cheek misdirection that one might have expected from Gonzales, the title was apt. Here was a collection of sixteen songs for piano whose subtlety and poise suggested a debt to early-twentieth century composers like Erik Satie. Never one to rest on his laurels, Gonzales followed Solo Piano with a series of further stylistic departures, ranging from the ‘70s groove of Soft Power (2006)
to the electro bounce of Ivory Tower (2008). In 2012, he released Solo Piano II, a graceful follow-up to his work of eight years previous.
He is set to release his new album Chambers on March 23. As the title suggests, Gonzales has now turned his restless gaze to nineteenth century chamber music, a form which he hopes to approach through the lens of contemporary pop.
On November 17^th Gonzales, accompanied by Hamburg’s Kaiser Quartett, will perform music from this new album at the Southbank Centre. This is set to be a hugely enjoyable event; Gonzales is not only a prolific and accomplished musician, but also a natural and charismatic performer.