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Slipping through the net
Chilly Gonzales’ music is interspersed with much thoughtful and comedic storytelling and philosophising, writes GEORGE FOGARTY
CG+JC

Chilly Gonzales
Royal Albert Hall, London

CHILLY GONZALES is a unique artist who has always managed to plough his own furrow. Dropped by his record label in 2004 after handing them a solo piano album (in complete contrast to the dancefloor rap they had signed him for), he went on to release it independently, whereupon it became his bestselling album to date.

He has remained independent ever since, leaving him free to experiment and change direction as he sees fit — often in the middle of a song, as it happens.

His latest album, Gonzo, throws down a self-therapising gauntlet to his fellow musicians, posing the stark question: can you be as arrogantly vulnerable; fearlessly iconoclastic and recklessly genre-busting as this, and still rock the party — all in one go?

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