1. About Bill (home)
2. RJV Introduction
3. The Interviews
4. Excerpt: "Jimmy Smith"
5. RJV Review
6. Bill's thoughts on Jazz

Have a Question for Bill? Submit it here.

Bill Milkowski is a New York-based freelancer who contributes regularly to Jazz Times, Modern Drummer, Guitar Player, Bass Player, Jazziz, Audio, Pulse Guitar Club (Italy), Jazzthing (Germany) and (until its recent demise) Fi magazines. He has written more than 4,000 articles for these and various other magazines since publishing his first article as a freelancer in 1974 and has penned more than 250 sets of liner notes to date. He is also the author of "Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries" (Billboard Books, 1999) and "JACO: The Extraordinary Life And Times Of Jaco Pastorius" (Miller Freeman Books, 1995), which is being made into a feature film by Blue Rider Pictures out of Santa Monica, California.

Milkowski has also acted as producer and/or co-producer on several recordings including Pat Martino's All Sides Now (Blue Note), Phil de Gruy's Innuendo Out The Other (NYC Records), Come Together: A Guitar Tribute To The Beatles (NYC Records), Who Loves You: A Tribute To Jaco Pastorius (JVC Records) and World Christmas (Metro Blue).

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 26, 1954, he began playing guitar at the age of 12 and naturally came under the sway of rock guitar gods like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck along with blues icons like B.B., Freddie and Albert King. His earliest experiences with jazz guitar came via Charlie Christian (specifically "Breakfast Feud") and later Joe Pass (see his liner notes to Pass' 1998 Pablo/Fantasy release Unforgettable for some autobiographical insights). Milkowski studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977. He became editor of the UWM Post campus newspaper in 1975 and worked as a summer intern at The Milwaukee Journal in 1976. Milkowski is the co-founder of Cityside, a biweekly tabloid publication patterned after the Chicago Reader and the Village Voice . The publication had a strong run in Milwaukee from 1977 through 1979. He worked briefly as the editor of the monthly glossy Milwaukee magazine before moving to New York City in September of 1980 to accept a position as managing editor of Good Times, a weekly entertainment publication based on Long Island. He worked there for two years, covering music, theatre and film, before striking out as a freelance writer in 1982.

In May of 1987, Milkowski was diagnosed with testicular cancer and underwent surgery and following radiation therapy. A benefit to help defray the costs of his rehabilitation was held at the old Tramp's nightclub on 15th Street in New York. The evening was hosted by JJA's Howard Mandel and featured such artists as John Scofield, Michael Brecker, Danny Gottlieb, John Zorn, Mike and Leni Stern, Robert Quine, Elliott Sharp, Dave Tronzo, Bobby Previte and Jon Paris. Milkowski's own band The Pit Bulls also performed. From 1991 to 1992, he served as co-host for "The Other Half," a Saturday morning blues show on radio station WNYE.

In 1993, Milkowski moved to New Orleans, where he indulged in all manner of decadence and over-eating and second lining. During his three-year stay in the Crescent City, he served as the overnight dj on radio station WWOZ. His "Milkman's Matinee" program, which aired from 2-5 a.m., was a particular favorite with insomniacs and musicians coming home from their gigs. His daughter Sophie (pictured on the back inner sleeve in "Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries") was born in New Orleans on April 1, 1995.

Milkowski returned to New York in October of 1996 and presently resides in Washington Heights (so far Uptown that Harlem is Downtown).

About "Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries"

In Bill Milkowski's "Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries" you'll find interviews with 30 of contemporary music's most outspoken and significant figures, from Keith Richards and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Wynton Marsalis and Keith Jarrett to Les Paul and Frank Zappa.

"The best things that I've heard are what the musicians have said themselves -- anytime where a person interviews a musican and just lets the musician talk." -- Steve Coleman, talking with Bill Milkowski on September 15, 1991

And that is exactly what you'll find in "Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries." Musicians talking about their music and their influences, about the industry itself, its collaborators and its critics; about what annoys them and inspires them; about what their aspirations are and so much more. With wit and candor, uncensored and uninterrupted, contemporary music's most interesting and gifted artsits deliver what fans always want -- the truth up close and very personal.

Music fans of every genre will savor Bill Milkowski's "Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries," a unique compilation of 30 probing interviews conducted over the last 20 years.