Unless you’ve been living under a rock this past week, you’ve heard about the passing of Kanye West’s mother. And with the current state of hip-hop, a tragedy such as this only adds fuel to the fire.

When I saw this video, I felt compelled to write about it. This talented piano player lets his keys say what can’t be spoken.

David Sides, the pianist in this video, first makes his dedication: “To the West family, from Riverside California, you’re in our prayers.” He starts out with playing “Good Morning” (the opening track on Graduation), and proceeds to perform “Champion”.

At this point I initially thought that he was going to do the whole album. Instead, he “samples” the stand-out tracks, and by doing so, cleverly condenses almost the whole CD into a 5 minute masterpiece.

Here are the song titles in order:

Good Morning

Champion

Can’t Tell Me Nothing

Flashing Lights

Everything I Am

Good Life

Stronger

Diamonds

As a musician myself, I know how hard it is to accomplish an arrangement such as this one. Not only does he play each song flawlessly, but he does it in one take.

This is truly a touching tribute.