Books and coffee are the perfect accompaniment to music and Plainsboro residents Doug Miller and Tari Pantaleo have been instrumental in bringing a jazz scene to Chestnut Tree Books in Princeton Shopping Center. The result: Appearances of Miller’s jazz ensemble, Shikantaza, Saturdays, January 20 to February 3.##M:[more]##
“Tari, who is friends with store owners Ira and Pam Kaye, conceived the idea of having Shikantaza performing at the bookstore,” says Doug. “We are working to build a pleasant entertainment venue within the book store and we all felt that adding a live modern jazz component to the enterprise would be a nice combination and would enhance the local music scene.”
“Shikantaza agreed to a four-week experimentation, that began last week, or limited engagement to launch this artistic endeavor,” says Miller. “This combination of artistic elements is reminiscent of the late 1950s and early 1960s coffee house scene that spawned so many great American artists — a defining period in our cultural heritage.”
Miller, the musical director and keyboardist in the band, has been performing as D. Locutor since 1995, when he published his first electronic discourses and multi-media extravaganza on www.armdtv.org. According to Miller, the name Locutor is derived from the Spanish word meaning announcer, commentator, or speaker.
“In the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, Shikantaza is the main meditation technique,” says Miller. “Literally, it refers to silent illumination, doing nothing but sitting, as well as the correct way of sitting.”
Percussionist Brandon Lewin, a Cranbury resident, is a real estate broker and long time student and friend of drum legend Tony DiNicola. He is also the web designer for the group’s website, www.shikantazamusic.com.
Bassist Geoff Fleming, a professionally-trained concert string bass player and a music teacher in WW-P schools, is an East Windsor resident. “He is also a significant contributor to our arrangements and repertoire,” says Miller.
“What’s important is that Ira has been a great supporter of the arts,” says Miller. “Chestnut Tree Books has hosted a variety of musical events from folk to a cappella vocal groups, as well as talks by authors such as Dr. Justin Frank, the author of ‘Bush on the Couch.’”
Guest artist Bill Flemer joins the group for the performance on Saturday, January 20. “Bill is a musical legend in the area, as well as a nationally known nurseryman,” says Miller. “He is a scholar in traditional folk, country, and swing musical idioms..”
Miller was born in Aquiree, Puerto Rico, on a now abandoned sugar cane plantation on the south side of the island. His mother was a teacher on the island, and he was raised in a traditional sheltered Spanish environment surrounded by music, art, encyclopedias, and relatives. He began studying piano at age six and has not stopped yet.
The family moved to Hightstown in the early 1960s. His father still lives in East Windsor. “Plainsboro was a logical place to settle, as it’s exactly between my two favorite cities in New Jersey — Trenton and New Brunswick,” he says.
When Miller is not promoting live musical improvisation, he does sound design or soundtracks for the private and not-for-profit sectors of the film and video industry. “Our whole house is pretty much a working multi-media production facility,” he says. “I’m past the point of wanting, needing, or desiring to travel long distances to produce product. Besides, media production technology has reached a level where it’s now possible to work from home, and I try to take advantage of that.”
“Most of my musical education came from a combination of three places including paid private instruction by some of the best instructors in the field of piano performance, immeasurable hours of practice and study, and the club life university of hard knocks. I am a strong and passionate proponent of lifelong learning and distance education.”
Miller has attended college and has accumulated an abundance of college credits in creative writing, media production, and electrical network engineering with computers.
“I have a rather distinct view on the value of college education and the degrees that they produce,” he says. “I have found a valuable resource in our local county community colleges, they host some of the finest educators in the nation.
Miller’s daughter, Flannery Miller, is a junior at High School South. She composes her own music in addition to collaborating with her father on musical projects. “An avid photographer and videographer, visual arts are her passion, and she enjoys experimenting with mixed media and jewelry making,” says Miller. She calls herself FuLang which means “Floating Wave” in Chinese. Flannery’s art will be present during the band’s performances at Chestnut Tree Books, and samplings of her work can be found on her website www.fulang.org.
Born in Albany, New York, Tari finished high school in Chappaqua, New York, when the family moved there. She graduated with a degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University, Class of 1975.
“As Chinese was my primary focus in college, it was natural for me to volunteer to accompany my niece and a group of WW-PHS high school students and parents on a trip to China in 2001 organized by the powerhouse Chinese teacher Wei Ling Wu,” she says. She has been working at the Kingston Post Office for more than 20 years.
For the last nine years she’s been a trustee of Kingston Greenways Association, and became president last spring.
“The group is committed to preserving, protecting, and enhancing the greenbelt around the Kingston Village area,” she says. “We are dedicated to providing oversight and advocacy for open space, and educating ourselves and others through walks, talks, and workshops. We also sponsor trash cleanups, trail maintenance, and other group activities.”
She also serves as a trustee on the board of the Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands. “This is an exciting challenge of regional, and even national, importance,” she says. “Our mission is to preserve and protect the historical and horticultural resources of the former Princeton Nurseries site, a wonderful property that opened to the public in April of 2006.”
“There’s a tremendous amount of work to be done and plans must be made for the restoration of the extant buildings, and potential uses for them explored,” she says. “Mapping and trail development are needed, and we’d like to get people involved in photo documentation, tree identification, taking oral histories of former Princeton Nurseries employees, and creating special events. There is really no end to the possibilities.”
The couple, who were married for the first time in 1976, parted after seven years. “Twenty years later, we re-encountered, and the same things that appealed to us the first time brought us together again,” she says.
Shikantaza, Chestnut Tree Books, Princeton Shopping Center, 609-279-2121. Meditative jazz style improvisations. Free. Saturday, January 20, 27, and February 3, 8 p.m.
