Jose Milewski – Background

 
Jose Milewski was born in Johannesburg, lived in East London for eight years and arrived in Cape Town in 1962 after his parents decided to move there. He started playing the piano at the age of seven, initially taught by his mom and then at the University of Cape Town College of Music. He played and won awards at Eisteddfods, played on the radio and, just before turning twelve, performed a Mozart Concerto (K414) at the Hiddingh Hall with the UCT College of Music Orchestra (rated a fine performance).

 "Losing touch a little in my teenage years and learning to play the guitar, I returned to regular piano playing in my twenties, performing occasionally at small concerts, but lacking the direction and commitment to forge a musical career. I was torn between classical music and modern, playing anything from Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven to Cat Stevens and the Beatles to Elton John and Abba. I also composed my own music.

 Many people struggle with my unusual name. It’s pronounced ‘Jozay Mil-ef-ski’. The reason my first name is pronounced with a soft or hard ‘J’ and not an ‘H’ is because it’s Portuguese, not Spanish."

 In his forties, after emigrating to Australia, he put more emphasis on composing and in 2001 / 2002 he composed ten pieces and played them on a digital piano, recording them onto his PC and producing the first solo version of the Nights On Io CD. This was favourably regarded, but was not commercially viable.

 "In 2005 / 2006 I spent more than a year part-time at Gemsound Recording Studio in Mahogany Creek in the Perth Hills, adding instrument tracks to the pieces by playing the various instrument parts on the piano using the strings setting or using MIDI to transform the piano to flute, horn, cello and double bass sounds."

 Live drums were added to Calisto and The Charon Classic, orchestral percussion (by Jose) to Menace on Icarus and guitar to a couple of the pieces. The result is a new commercially viable Nights On Io rich in harmonization and interwoven melodies, providing a pleasant full sound.

It has been described as relaxation and background music, but is much more than this. It fits into the New Age and Easy Listening genres.

Jose is busy promoting and selling his CD globally, as well as composing and recording new pieces and songs.

"My old Fritz Kuhla acoustic upright piano is in a terrible state soundwise, although the exquisite walnut frame is still looking splendid. I need to refurbish the mechanism inside or get an expert to do it.

My digital piano is quite good, but I'm looking forward to buying a new high-quality piano with fully weighted keys and excellent sound quality, preferably with a built-in recording facility.

I’ve composed my first two songs and recorded one – “It’s Not Too Late” - in 2008. I’m recording my second song, called “Wave”. These songs together with five more instrumental pieces are set to become my second CD, together with a few more songs yet to be composed.

 “It’s Not Too Late” has dual themes – environmental awareness and life fulfillment - urging everyone to get on with developing their passion now and avoid a tale of procrastination. I put  things off and believed they would just happen some day. That caused me to start my music career so late.”