Solo Piano II

It's fair to say that Chilly Gonzales has not followed a traditional career path.

From prankster rapper to electro-funk maestro, the artist formerly known as Jason Beck has long demonstrated a playfully flexible attitude towards genre. In the last two years alone, his iconoclasm has produced a chess movie and an orchestral hip hop album, but of all his varied guises, it’s as a classically-trained pianist that he’s arguably most distinguished: not only is 2004’s Solo Piano apparently his highest selling album to date, but he once beat Andrew WK in a head-to-head piano battle, and that guy can play.

Solo Piano II Arts & Crafts ***