b'6am-8pmDEMOCRATS, CHANGE.Its Up To Us!The EP cover from Jeiris Cook and Vern Millers collaboration.always have music going through myon vocals, and Miller on instruments. Im running because the voters in Essex and head, he says. I wake up with it, I goIts an impressive achievement, notUnion Counties want and need change. The Covid to bed with it; I cant turn it off. onlybecauseitwas100percentcre- pandemic changed everything about how we live, Thefirstsongheworkedonwasated remotely, but also, because the EPlearn, work and play so I see this election as an very soulful, very Otis Redding, andbrings together two very different musi- opportunity to accelerate change so that our that made him think of Cook, whosecians at very different times in their livesmunicipalities can thrive. voiceblendsvintagesoulandblueswho have created a beautiful harmony.into a velvety serenade that, combinedMusicisabridgethatconnects_Frank McGeheewith his guitar, delivered a sound thatacrossgender,generations,ethnicity is down home, raw and earthy. itconnectseverybody.Itsaplace So, I emailed him, and I said, Iwhere people can meet, says Miller, got this song, and it really needs a voiceadding as only one with his musicalIssues Im Passionate Aboutlike yours on it. If youll do the singingpedigree can: I learned all that from on the track for me, Ill play bass ontraveling with people like the Beatles one of your songs, Miller recalls.and being around them.Next up was a gospel song. And be- Cook agrees, describing music as aAffordability /Education Public Safety /Responsible fore long, the two were emailing backform of universal therapy that can healClosing the Stopping GunDevelopmentand forth, exchanging ideas on melody,across boundaries, connecting peopleWealth Gap Violencelyricalprose,andvocalarrangement.from all walks of life. TheirremotecollaborationcontinuedSince the pandemic, Cook has re-with edits, and eventually, recording turned to performing. He has been aAccessibleTransportation andEnvironmental Racial/Gender allwhileshutteredintheirrespectivesemifinalist in two songwriting com- Healthcare Infrastructure Sustainability LGBTQIA Equalityhomes weathering the pandemic. petitions, performed in ShowTime at I would get an idea, usually for athe Apollo and opened for 50 Cent at first verse and a hook, a place to startthe Nassau Coliseum. He also volun-from, and Id send it off to him, Millerteers with Musicians On Call. says, explaining that Cook would workCooksfirstfull-lengthalbum,To learn more and contribute on it and send it back with his ideas.calledPatchwork,isdueoutthisto our campaign, visit Whathasemergedisastunning,September.is an educationmcgeheeforassembly.comfive-track EP titled The Jeiris Cook/VernMalia Rulon Herman MillerProject,whichisavailableonwriterwholovesrockmusicandcant Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube, andwait to hear what else this remarkablePaid for by: McGehee for Assembly, P.O. Box 1002, Maplewood, NJ 07040Apple Music. The tracks feature Cookduo has in store.feature story /19'