Shut Up and Play the Piano

Performance provocateur, professional Jewish MC and classical savant are a few of the phrases used to describe the cult musical phenomenon that is Chilly Gonzales. This Grammy-winning Canadian pianist, composer and performer has moved effortlessly from smoky jazz and hip-hop clubs to packed orchestra halls for the past two decades. The Montreal-born son of Ashkenazi Hungarian Jews, Gonzales (born Jason Charles Beck), was signed at the age of 23 to Warner Bros. with his alternative rock band Son. After the label dumped him, Gonzales traveled to Berlin where he recorded four rap albums, collaborated with vanguard punk high priestess Peaches and even ran for president of the city's underground scene despite speaking no German whatsoever. Weary of his own blabbermouth avant garde persona, Gonzales took off for Paris where he made the contemplative masterpiece of Satie-esque keyboard melodies, Solo Piano. Since then Gonzales has continually expanded his repertoire by writing and producing material for Canadian rap superstar Drake and Daft Punk's electronic mega-sellerÊRandom Access Memories. First time director Philipp Jedicke's freewheeling doc portrait weaves a mosaic of thoroughly entertaining moments from the artist's career culminating in a chaotic concert, with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra taking on Gonzales in all his sweaty, swaggering, crowd-surfing glory. -Thomas Logoreci

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