|  For
Paul Milesi, the piano and jazz have
always been at the center of it all. He began playing professionally
while still in high school, and has since appeared in venues ranging
from casual clubs to elegant embassies.
Paul
received his earliest musical training and exposure to jazz in
Syracuse, New York, his hometown. He began his piano studies with
Eleanor Audlin and Mary Cross. Later, during high school, he delved
into jazz with John Whitney, Phil Klein and Frank Puzzullo, and
at age 17 played his first "gig" with a quartet at Carmen's
Restaurant.
Paul
went on to major in Jazz and Studio Music at the University of
Miami, studying piano with Vince Maggio and earning a Bachelor
of Music degree in 1976. After graduation, Paul moved to
North Carolina, where he directed the jazz ensembles and taught
a history of jazz course at Duke University while leading his
own groups in the Research Triangle area.
"My
piano is to me ... myself, my speech, my life."
--Franz
Liszt
 Paul left Duke to begin a masters program at the Eastman
School of Music. But within a year he abandoned Eastman
and moved to New York City, where he spent three years studying
the live performances of the City's leading pianists, and playing
in Manhattan restaurants and at jam sessions in many of the jazz
lofts.
In
1982, Paul moved to Washington, DC to attend Georgetown University
Law Center. Although he has never practiced law, he holds
the Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown and is a member of the
Pennsylvania Bar.
While
in law school, Paul appeared with a trio six nights a week at
the J.W. Marriott Hotel in downtown Washington. Subsequent
DC engagements have included City Club of Washington; the Georgetown
Inn; the Bombay Club; the Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Willard
Inter-Continental, and Hay-Adams hotels; several embassies; the
Vice President's Residence; and many Washington area clubs, including
Takoma Station, Les Nieces, Murph's, and Twins Lounge.
In
addition to his full schedule as a pianist, Paul was for several
years during the 1990s the artistic director and frequent producer
for Washington DC's Twins Lounge jazz club. From 1994 through
1998, he was also Secretary and Treasurer of Finas Sound Productions,
Inc., a New York City jazz production company. And from
1998 through 2000, Paul served as artist representative for internationally-renowned
pianist James Williams.
More
than his formal musical education, Paul attributes his love of
Jazz and his natural affinity for the music to the many opportunites
he has had over the years to hear and associate with truly great,
generous musicians -- mostly in intimate club, but occasionally
in concert, settings.
During
his teenage years, Paul
was significantly impacted by the live performances of such influential
players as Monty Alexander, Ray Bryant, Tyree Glenn, Earl "Fatha'"
Hines, Marian and Jimmy McPartland, Red Richards, Norman Simmons,
Buddy Tate, Bobby Timmons and Teddy Wilson, all of whom appeared
regularly at the Dinkler Motor Inn, a favorite Syracuse nightspot.
On one occasion,
Paul's parents took him to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center,
where he was lucky enough to hear the Duke Ellington Orchestra
in concert with many of its star players, including Johnny Hodges,
Cootie Williams and Harry Carney. Afterwards, Paul met Duke in
his dressing room, and received an impromptu backstage lesson
from organist Wild Bill Davis. And while in college in Miami,
a similar evening found Paul catching the Count Basie Band at
the Playboy Club, hearing historical figures like Freddie Green
on guitar, and hanging out with drummer Sonny Payne. Later, living
in New York, Paul was exposed nightly to an array of artists including
Cedar Walton, Roland Hanna, Big Nick Nicholas, Harold Mabern,
Jr., the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Band, Herbie Hancock, Sam Jones,
and countless others.
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