Pianist Chilly Gonzales’ musical home has so many rooms it’s starting to resemble a mansion. Or, say, a castle in the case that interests us here. After three chapters of his Solo pianoa stunning Christmas album, a chamber music record, a project with Jarvis Cocker, rap and electronic efforts, an essay and so on, the Montreal artist puts on his charentaises — and his “dressing gown, like Robespierre » — and offers to France French Kissa tribute to its culture, the one that is frozen in stone and the one that is still boiling.
He may have his Canadian passport, but Chilly Gonzales has had a career in Europe for more than two decades, a little in Germany but a lot in France, he who made a name for himself in Paris with his long-time teammate Renaud Letang. The pianist has always played on the fine line of elite and fringe, classical and pop, what is expected and what is not.
“The cultural scene in Paris, however, is a very elitist environment, very small, and I am part of it somewhere. I have one foot in it, I produced records for Birkin, I worked with Françoise Hardy, Aznavour, all those people. And at the same time, I’m friends with lots of young rappers, who don’t care about that,” illustrates Chilly Gonzales, based in London.
French Kiss, it is therefore a true and felt homage to French art, but not without a few smirks on his part. “It’s love, but family love, it means that I allow myself to criticize, to mock, to tease in addition to paying homage. But above all, it is to bring together my vision of current French culture with the monolith that is behind it… Everything is said when on the record I say “Voltaire, Flaubert, Baudelaire, and Bengalter””, the surname of one of the members by Daft Punk.
This approach is central on this record, both in the lyrics and in the music. The influences, the quotes and the many guests come from everywhere. Gonzales called on Pierre Grillet — to whom we owe Madam dreams by Alain Bashung —, but also to Teki Latex from the rap group TTC.
We hear the Martenot wave player Christine Ott, but also the sensation Juliette Armanet. The pianist covers Gabriel Fauré and also pays homage to Richard Clayderman, to whom we owe Ballad for Adeline. The title piece is based on Moonlight by Debussy and cites Virginie Despentes.
The most beautiful part of this tribute is perhaps the effort he made to compose in French, a first for him. Gonzales didn’t have a clear plan to do so, but a recent return to the City of Lights ignited something in him. He first created Piano in Paris when he first played the instrument he had rented and had delivered through the window to his new apartment. The five notes of the chorus, “something very light ”, remained in what was only supposed to be a wink to “make the French laugh”.
But other ideas came, in French in the text. “The second song that I wrote with the help of Teki Latex, it came to me from a phrase: “it’s a wonder crowd to take a walk in the crowd”, a bit like Aznavour who sang For me, wonderful. And that suits me very well since I go into the audience quite often when I do concerts. »
Teki Latex, Gonzales said, played the role of teacher well, teaching him how to fish rather than catching fish for him. “And there it was, there it was. Now, I have the impression that I manage to be myself in French, that’s the goal, that’s the challenge and that’s what made it exciting to be in a new terrain, to have the advantages of the beginner. The advantage of the stranger, ofoutsider, who dares to rhyme potato with Adolph Hitler. Only me would dare to do that. »
And in his writing and his interpretation, Chilly Gonzales is himself, at the same time very frenchy but with his little Anglo accent. And also and above all, he echoes his Canadian roots, but also very Quebecois, in particular by using hyperlocal expressions, such as “it’s fucking Good “. “And I used the word “sickening” in its Quebec sense, in its positive sense! And I even say, “this is the fun in cry” at one point. You can’t take Quebec out of the boy, it’s sure, right? » So, we’re not complaining.
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