Classical music star Miloš has come a long way from the time growing up in Montenegro and trying to impress girls with his guitar playing.Now the 32-year-old, who was born Miloš Karadaglić, is sitting in London’s intimate Abbey Road studio 2, the one where the Beatles recorded some of the most famous pop songs of all time.Miloš is starting to raise awareness of his Beatles cover album “Blackbird,” which is released in January next year. He is hosting a small lunch and reception for journalists and record-industry people. He is also doing a private rendition of three of the tracks – going against some doctors’ advice that he should hold back a little longer after a hand injury.Miloš explains: “I am waiting for another three weeks and I am kicking off with a New Year’s concert in Prague which is going to be broadcast to Europe and the world.“Musicians don’t talk about problems with their hands, and I think that’s quite unfair, because sports people do - and what we do with our hands is exactly the same. It has been very tough for the last three months, because I had to cancel a lot of concerts.”Miloš had conflicting advice from doctors, including some excellent tips from a medic who deals with sports injuries. “I had some nasty injections, which were not cortisone but something much better.” Fortunately his Beatles album was already finished.He explains its genesis. “I have never been more excited about an album. Recording the Beatles taught me more about music-making than if I recorded an album of Bach… My first three albums felt like I was closing this chapter of introducing myself… it was time to go outside the box this time.”“First and foremost, I chose the pieces I loved the most, then I asked Sérgio Assad, who is probably the only guitar arranger and composer I trust with something like this. I was there with 15 solo guitar pieces.”Miloš went through the list, identifying those that worked best as solos, those that needed strings, sitar or double bass - “which is a kind of match made in heaven” - and especially those that required singing: “What’s a Beatles album without a singer on it?”Tori Amos was among the stars he brought in. They had met a couple of years ago when going to the classical Echo International Awards in Germany in a limo so they could be on the red carpet together. “I thought she was one of the warmest and nicest people I have ever met and in the car we discussed what we could do together, because guitar and voice is the most natural combination.”He reunited with Amos on September 8. “It was the day that Tori’s daughter was leaving to go to boarding school and she was singing ‘She’s Leaving Home.’ For the first half an hour Tori was literally sobbing, and then she gave it the most beautiful emotion that I could have ever asked from her.”He says he was also fortunate to get sitar player Anousha Shankar, daughter of Beatles associate Ravi Shankar (Miloš expresses a desire to learn sitar himself); classical cellist Steven Isserlis; and jazz singer Gregory Porter – Miloš was an admirer of Porter’s Grammy-winning album “Liquid Spirit” and decided that his deep voice was ideal for ‘Let It Be.’ (Fortunate maybe, though with the guitarist’s talent and multi-million sales, it’s hardly surprising that they jumped on board.)“I am not saying it is classical music, but it is classic and will be here 100 years or 200 years from now - the same way that Schubert’s songs are.“‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ I absolutely love and I think the arrangement that we have is very special.‘The Fool on the Hill’ I fell in love with when I heard Annie Lennox sing it at the Grammy Awards. Some tracks have the simplicity of one idea and others have three or four songs in one such as ‘Lucy in the Sky.’ I think it squeezed more creative energy out of me than anything I have ever done.”During the private show he also played ‘Something,’ ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Yesterday,’ which has an unusual transcription by Toru Takemitsu.Miloš said he had written to McCartney years ago when he was a student but never heard back. He doesn’t know if Sir Paul has yet heard the album.Milos was always blessed with good looks but recalls: “I started playing guitar because I wanted to be popular with the girls. I was rubbish at football and so I had to use my voice and my fingers.” He pauses. “Oh… that sounds BAD!”Miloš’s album is released on Mercury Classics on January 15, 2016.
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