Chilly Gonzales on his Schulich roots

Par un écrivain mystérieux

Description

In a recent interview with La Presse +, pianist Chilly Gonzales (also known as Jason Beck offstage) explained how his time at Schulich in the 1990s influenced his current style of music. Beck (BMus 1994), who appeared in concert at le Maison symphonique on October 26 and 27, explained that two primary influences in his music – classical composition and jazz piano – harken back to his days as a Schulich student. “I did my theoretical studies in classical music, and my practical lessons in jazz. I chose to do my final exam in a pub, in front of a crowd. This wasn’t done at the time, but McGill was open enough to allow me to take my own path and to modernize an approach that I found too academic.” Having just released his third solo piano album to critical success, Beck is making his mark as an innovative and adaptable artist. Since the year 2000, he’s released well-received pop albums, worked with Daft Punk, collaborated on Juno-winning albums with Feist, played in a duo with Drake, broken a world-record for longest solo piano concert, and more. Read the full interview with La Presse + here.