The Art of Collaboration: A-Trak & Chilly Gonzales

Marjana Jaidi / February 22, 2010

Last Thursday, we caught the third installment of Chilly Gonzales‘ Piano Talk Show, a four-part series with a featured guest performer at each show. Gonzales, who recently set the Guinness World Record for longest live piano performance (27 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds), wore a robe and slippers when he took the stage for his cabaret-style performance. He played songs that ranged from classical pieces and traditional Jewish tunes to songs with spoken lyrics, amusing the crowd with witty and brutally honest banter in between.

Special guest A-Trak joined Gonzales on stage during a jazzy piece, and took over by recording a snippet of the song, replaying it with a beat, and adding his trademark scratching. After some more banter, where Gonzales called A-Trak “the Michael Jackson of the turntables”, the duo went into a medley of songs where A-Trak added vocal instrumentals and scratches to Gonzales’ piano melody. The medley included Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight (Everything is Alright)”, R. Kelly’s “Fiesta”, Tears for Fears’ “Shout”, Steely Dan’s “Back Jack”, Chaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing”, and Clipse’s “Wamp Wamp (What it Do)”. The duet (or “Jewet”, as Gonzales put it) presented a unique take on each song that showcased the two artists’ significant talents.

In the past two years, we’ve seen A-Trak perform more times than we can count, most often in a club setting where he typically spins a blend of hip-hop and electro with his signature scratching and beat juggling thrown into the mix. You can always count on his club sets to get a crowd moving, but its in special performances like this where A-Trak really shines.

Last October, A-Trak was among the momentous roster of scratch legends who came together to pay tribute to the late Grandmaster Roc Raida. Turntable veterans, including the members of the X-Ecutioners and Beat Junkies, took turns recreating some of the Grandmaster’s celebrated turntable routines. As the youngest DJ to win the DMC World Championship (at age 15), A-Trak is comparatively new to the scratching scene, but he more than held his own among his older cohorts, eliciting an overwhelmingly positive reaction from a surprised crowd.

Like the Roc Raida tribute, A-Trak and Chilly Gonzales’ duet for the Piano Talk Show was a collaboration so rare, it is likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime moment. The performance revealed a new layer of skill and creativity that reaffirms A-Trak’s position as one of the top DJs in the world. MTV recently announced that A-Trak and Travis Barker are building a live show that will debut in Los Angeles on March 9 and 10. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of this new accord.

Check out Nicky Digital‘s video of A-Trak and Chilly Gonzales’ performance below, then click through for a round-up of photos from A-Trak’s various exploits around town. Don’t miss Chilly Gonzales’ final performance of the Piano Talk Show at Joe’s Pub this Thursday where he will be performing with Princess Superstar, and be sure to download his Pianist Envy mixtape HERE.

Chilly Gonzales and A-Trak perform at Joe’s Pub on February 18, 2010