Chilly Gonzales delivers classical elegance in purple dressing gown

Gonzales comes onto the stage alone tonight wearing a purple dressing gown. To an outsider, he doesn’t look like someone able to play the piano like it’s second nature – his gangly frame, messy hair and jovial personality doesn’t quite match up with the idea of an elegant classical composer.

It is not long before the Kaiser Quartet, Gonzales’ string section, comes on to support him. Gonzales gets each member of the Kaiser Quartet to play simple notes in different intonations, including in tremolo, staccato and pizzicato. As well as this, he gets them to play renditions of classical music as The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”. Later on, he moves on to playing the bongo drums to the rhythm of Beethoven’s Fifth.

But he doesn’t forget to play plenty of his own stuff, treating the crowd to some of more popular tracks off his new album. “Odessa” sounds haunting and brooding, perfectly epitomizing the chamber music Gonzales wrote specifically for venues like the Milton Court Concert Hall. He talks about his ‘hip hop producer’s ear’ before moving onto playing the pensive “Advantage Points”, with the string section firing on all cylinders.

Not only musically is Gonzales is on top form tonight, but also vocally - when rapping in his older songs and preaching humorously to the audience in between tunes, his droll comments bring a light-hearted feel to the show. Gonzales mocks the arrogance of some composers and pop artists, including calling Vagner “the Kanye West of composing.” When one audience member suggests be is trying to cover one of his songs, he looks horrified and quips: “As a Jew myself, I categorically reject your request.”

The set was full of dazzling moments. One of the most beautiful was when Gonzales and the Kaiser Quartet dimmed the lighting to play the ballad "Armellodie", leaving you to fully concentrate on the music without any distractions. It was mesmerising.

Gonzales finished with an improvised sing-a-long before coming on for two encores. On the first, he asked the audience what they would like to hear. To the relief on many of fans of Gonzales’ Ivory Tower album, produced by Boys Noize, he agreed to play “Knight Move”s, one of standouts. The rushy chords of the sounded magical, giving it a whole new energy and leaving everyone shuffling out smiling.