New Classical Tracks: Chilly Gonzales – Solo Piano II Bonus Content

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Not all of the content from an episode of New Classical Tracks makes the audio cut. Here is further information and interviews relating to the new disc, Solo Piano II by Chilly Gonzales.

Musician Chilly Gonzales, a performer who often appears on stage in a bathrobe and slippers, has taken it upon himself to, as he says, "rehabilitate the white keys." The white keys, he says, get a bad rap. "They mostly sound like fairy tales when you play them," Gonzales remarks. "A lot of the very saccharine music you'll hear in film scores these days... It kind of comes from tinkling away on the white keys."

In his quest to rehabilitate those white piano keys, Gonzales shifts the range of the piano to something unexpected in a piece titled, appropriately enough, White Keys. Suddenly, according to Gonzales, you're hearing "very, very low, dark stuff that you could never really imagine would sound like a white key piece."

And he wants to help the listener appreciate what he's done. So, he created one of his Piano Visions — a video on his website — so anyone can see just exactly how he's using the white keys. Take a look:

WHITE KEYS from SOLO PIANO II from Chilly Gonzales on Vimeo.