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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1972|03|20}}
| origin = [[Montreal]], Quebec, Canada
| occupation = {{hlist|Composer, |pianist, |entertainer, |singer, |[[rapper]], |[[Record_producer|producer, ]]|songwriter, |actor, |screenwriter}}
| instrument = {{hlist|Piano, |keyboards, |vocals}}
| label = Gentle Threat
| associated_acts = {{hlist|[[Peaches (musician)|Peaches]], |[[Feist (musician)|Feist]], |[[Mocky]], |[[Puppetmastaz]], |[[Daft Punk]], |[[Drake (rapper)|Drake]], |[[Boys Noize]], |[[Jarvis Cocker]], |[[Frankie Goes to Hollywood]]}}
| website = {{URL|chillygonzales.com}}
}}
'''Jason Charles Beck''' (born 20 March 1972), professionally known as '''Chilly Gonzales''' or just '''Gonzales''', is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and producer. Currently based in [[ParisCologne]], FranceGermany, he previously lived for several years in CologneParis and Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-15 |title=Chilly Gonzales spielt Benefiz-Konzert: "Köln ist hässlich? Ich bin da anderer Meinung" |url=https://www.ksta.de/kultur-medien/chilly-gonzales-ueber-seine-wahlheimat-koeln-ist-haesslich-ich-bin-da-anderer-meinung-629083 |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/chilly-gonzales|title=Chilly Gonzales|date=14 May 2017|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|access-date=10 October 2017}}</ref><ref name=Guardian2009 >{{cite news |title=Gonzales sets world record for longest solo concert: The Canadian musician played for 27 hours, three minutes and 44 seconds at a Paris theatre – and sleep-walked his way through 300 songs |last=Michaels |first=Sean |date=20 May 2009 |newspaper=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/20/gonzales-longest-solo-concert}}</ref> Gonzales’ career spans numerous genres. He is known for his rap albums, his collaborations with popsinger musiciansand musician [[Feist (singer)|Feist]] and rapper [[Drake (musician)|Drake]], his albums of classical piano compositions (including the ''Solo Piano'' trilogy), and for his collaborations with electronic musicians [[Daft Punk]] and [[Boys Noize]], the latter of whom he also produces under the moniker '''Octave Minds'''. In 2022, he and [[Richie_Hawtin|Plastikman]] released a piano rework of [[Plastikman]]’sthe latter's 1998 minimal techno classic album ''[[Consumed (Plastikman album)|Consumed]]'' in collaboration with Canadian musician [[Tiga_(musician)|Tiga]], titled "Consumed in Key".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/consumed-in-key-a-compelling-reinterpretation-of-plastikman-s-1998-album-consumed/article_c602cc3a-e0ad-5a6e-979b-86d7a24a0a90.html|title='Consumed In Key' a compelling reinterpretation of Plastikman's 1998 album 'Consumed'|publisher=Toronto Star|access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref>
 
Gonzales broadcasts a web series ''Pop Music Masterclass'' on WDR, the documentary ''Classical Connections'' on BBC Radio 1, ''The History of Music'' on Arte, and ''Music's Cool with Chilly Gonzales'' on Apple Music's Beats1 radio show. He has written several newspaper and magazine opinion pieces in ''The Guardian'', ''Vice'', ''Billboard'', and others.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6509204/chilly-gonzalez-chambers-interview|title=Chilly Gonzalez Explains Why the Classical Music World Should Stop Resisting Rap & Pop Music|magazine=Billboard|access-date=30 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/31/chilly-gonzales-musical-tropes-2014|title=Chilly Gonzales on musical tropes in 2014: when the chord progression died|last=Gonzales|first=Chilly|date=31 December 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=30 October 2017|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/59b9vq/musical-genius-chilly-gonzales-explains-the-history-of-pop-music|title=musical genius chilly gonzales explains the history of pop music|date=17 February 2015|work=I-d|access-date=30 October 2017}}</ref> He is the younger brother of film composer [[Christophe Beck]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aesop.com/de/de/r/the-fabulist/chilly-gonzales/|author=Thomas Chatterton Williams|title=In conversation with Chilly Gonzales|date=February 2020|access-date=16 September 2021}}</ref> Gonzales won a Grammy award for his work on Daft Punk's 2013 studio album ''[[Random Access Memories]]''.<ref name="44-second-piano-solo">{{cite news|first=Neil |last=McCormick |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11506323/I-got-a-Grammy-for-a-44-second-piano-solo.html |title=I got a Grammy for a 44-second piano solo |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=6 April 2015 |access-date=7 January 2016}}</ref>
 
==Biography==
=== Early life and career ===
Jason Charles Beck is the son of [[Ashkenazi Jews]] who were forced to flee from [[Hungary]] during World War II.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/an-encounter-at-the-piano-with-chilly-gonzales-1.3047623 |title=An encounter at the piano with Chilly Gonzales – Montreal – CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=24 April 2015 |access-date=12 April 2017}}</ref> He began teaching himself piano at age three, when his older brother [[Christophe Beck|ChrisChristophe]] began taking lessons. Beck graduated from [[Crescent School (Toronto)|Crescent School]] in Toronto, Canada. He was classically trained as a pianist at [[McGill University]], where he began both his composing career, co-authoring several musicals with his brother, and his performing career, as a [[jazz]] pianist.
 
In the 1990s, he began a pop career as the leader of the [[alternative rock]] band Son, with [[Mocky|Dominic Salole]] and Dave Szigeti. Son was signed to a three-album deal with [[Warner Music Canada]] in 1995, a subsidiary of [[Warner Bros. Records]]. Their first release, the Prince/Elvis Costello-flavored LP ''Thriller'', was moderately successful, spawning one single that received heavy radio airplay ("Pick up the Phone") and leading to several opening gigs for the [[Barenaked Ladies]]. The album's production values were limited; Warner Bros. simply released the band's hastily recorded demo as a record.
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To Warner Music, the album represented too radical a change in direction, and it lacked any singles deemed acceptable for Canadian radio; the most upbeat tune on the album had the radio-unfriendly title, "Making a Jew Cry". The label gave little promotional support to the release, and dropped the band soon after.
 
=== TheMove Berlinto yearsBerlin ===
[[File:Gonzales-Toronto.JPG|thumb|Gonzales at the Mod Club in [[Toronto]] 2009.]]
Finding dealing with the expectations of the Canadian music industry difficult,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/092905/music3.html |title=Music : Gonzales |work=Montreal Mirror |date=5 October 2005 |access-date=27 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606084320/https://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/092905/music3.html |archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref> Gonzales moved to [[Berlin]] in 1999, despite speaking no German.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/P/Peaches_And_Chili_Gonzales/2000/09/28/748673.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709144505/https://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/P/Peaches_And_Chili_Gonzales/2000/09/28/748673.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=9 July 2012 |title=Peaches and Chili Gonzales: Germans eat up Peaches & Chili |publisher=Jam.canoe.ca |date=28 September 2000 |access-date=27 May 2010}}</ref><ref>[https://exclaim.ca/music/article/as_he_completes_the_trilogy_a_deep_dive_into_how_chilly_gonzaless_solo_piano_conquered_the_world "As He Completes His Trilogy, A Deep Dive Into How Chilly Gonzales's 'Solo Piano' Conquered the World"]. ''/exclaim!'', By Tom Beedham, 7 September 2018</ref> He declared himself "The President of the Berlin Underground" and adopted the stage name Chilly Gonzales in 1999.<ref name="44-second-piano-solo">{{cite news|first=Neil |last=McCormick |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11506323/I-got-a-Grammy-for-a-44-second-piano-solo.html |title=I got a Grammy for a 44-second piano solo |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=6 April 2015 |access-date=7 January 2016}}</ref>
 
With this change in image came another major change in Gonzales's musical style. His four albums on the German label [[Kitty-yo]] (''Gonzales Über Alles'' (1999), ''The Entertainist'' (2000), ''Presidential Suite'' (2002), and ''Z'' (2003)) were recorded as [[Rapping|rap]] records, though his skills as a keyboardist were demonstrated on a series of interspersed [[instrumental]] tracks. European critics and audiences were more receptive to the eclectic and experimental nature of Gonzales's output. His first Kitty-yo single, "Let's Groove Again", became a dance floor hit upon its 1999 release. It was used in a 2007 [[BBC]] promotional trailer for their new TV programme ''[[The Restaurant (UK TV Series)|The Restaurant]]''. Gonzales performed regularly at nightclubs and on the summer pop festival circuit.
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=== ''Soft Power'' and ''Ivory Tower'' ===
In early 2008, Gonzales signed with [[Mercury Records]], and on 7 April ''Soft Power'' was released. While maintaining a typically eclectic mix of styles, ''Soft Power'' was recorded as a pop album, with a sound reminiscent of the [[Bee Gees]] and [[Billy Joel]]. Gonzales chose to sing on the album.<ref>{{cite news|url=httphttps:https://www.cbc.ca/artsnews/musicentertainment/story/2008/05/06/fthe-gonzalesreluctant-softentertainer-power1.html770235|title=The reluctant entertainer|date=6 May 2008|access-date=27 May 2010|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://canada.com.dose.ca/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=c676897f-718a-4237-93d7-59b102fbb40c|title=Invalid host name|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221122801/https://canada.com.dose.ca/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=c676897f-718a-4237-93d7-59b102fbb40c|archive-date=21 February 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=7 January 2009}}</ref>
 
Gonzales' album ''Ivory Tower'' (produced by [[Boys Noize]]) appeared on the !Earshot National Top 50 Chart in 2010.<ref>[https://www.earshot-online.com/charts/index.cfm?intChartTypeID=101&dWeekOfID=2010-10-26 "The National Top 50 For the Week Ending: Tuesday, October 26, 2010"]. ''!Earshot''.</ref> His song "Never Stop", from the album was one of his better known tunes, and the opening piano tune was featured on [[Apple Inc.]]'s worldwide advertising campaign for the [[iPad 2]]. Apple adapted the tune for electric guitar.
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=== Guinness World record ===
On 18 May 2009, at the Ciné 13 Théâtre, Paris, he set a [[world record]] for the longest solo-artist performance with a total time of 27 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds, breaking a record set by [[Prasanna Gudi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iN64E8OXjSllVF1MdrXcyIG-NKUw|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424053828/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iN64E8OXjSllVF1MdrXcyIG-NKUw|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 April 2012|title=AFP: Canadian pianist sets world record for concert|date=17 May 2009|access-date=27 May 2010}}</ref> He played over 300 songs during the course of the record attempt.<ref name=dalton>[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/shut-up-play-piano-review-1085927 "'Shut Up and Play the Piano': Film Review | Berlin 2018"]. ''Hollywood Reporter'', 18 February 2018 by Stephen Dalton</ref>
 
=== Room 29 ===
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* ''A Very Chilly Christmas''<ref>{{cite web|title=Chilly Gonzales Is Releasing His Very Own Christmas Album|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/chilly_gonzales_is_releasing_his_very_own_christmas_album_with_feist_and_jarvis_cocker|publisher=exclaim.ca|author=Brock Thiessen|date=5 November 2020|access-date=6 November 2020}}</ref> – 2020
* ''Consumed in Key'' ([[Plastikman]] & Chilly Gonzales) – 2022
* ''He Thinks That I'm An Angel'' ([[Goldie Boutilier]] & Chilly Gonzales) from Cowboy Gangster Politician EP - 2022
* Daft Punk - "GLBTM (Studio Outtakes)" from ''[[Random Access Memories (10th Anniversary Edition)]]'' - 2023
* ''French Kiss'' - Gentle Threat, 2023
* ''F*CK WAGNER'' - Single, 2024
* ''Gonzo'' - Gentle Threat, 2024
 
==DVD content==