b'A Chance Encounter Leads to a Stunning Musical CollaborationThis duo had Maplewood in commonBY MALIA RULON HERMANI t was happenstance, how they met.Jeiris Cook and Vern Miller at Millers home recording studio. Miller playedloved teaching, Miller says, his face light-Or maybe it was fate. ing up with a giant grin as he remembers Vern Miller, a retired South Or- his former students. ange/MaplewoodmusicteacherWhen I was trying to get young people whose bass-playing career started inbass in the 1960s band the Remains (hes first on left of the poster), whichto cooperate and work together, they knew college with the 1960s garage rocktoured with the Beatles in 1966.that what I was telling them wasnt just from band the Remains, which performedsomething I read in a book on how to teach ontheEdSullivanChristmasShowandthe Remains reached cult status across the Northeastyoung kids, it was something that I experi-opened for the Beatles, has never stopped makingand Europe. enced from the inside, Miller says, describing what music.It got crazy, Miller admitted, explaining thatit was like to hang out with the Beatles, and what he Jeiris Cook, a 43-year-old, bowtie and cap-wear- he would sometimes take a personal day on Fridaylearned from the three weeks he toured with them.ing father of three young boys, grew up in Georgiaand fly to Europe on Thursday night so he couldIf youre in a musical group, youre doing it with and started singing at age five as part of a very musi- headline shows on Friday and Saturday nights beforeother people, so you have to find a common ground, cal church family, before moving to Maplewood inflying home Sunday. he says, explaining how his experiences helped him the mid-1990s, where he attended Columbia HighI was back in school on Monday, Miller says.teach students how to set goals and collaborate. School, graduating in 1998. He did this over and over, playing shows across Eu- They believed in me. I had credibility, he said.Ironically, though, the two did not meet in Ma- rope on weekends and during Spring Break. It wasAmong his former students were: Anthony Maz-plewood, where Mr. Miller, as he was known to hisnuts. But I mean, I couldnt not do it. It was a greatzocchi, a former SOMSD Board of Education mem-students, was busy juggling 7thand 8 thgrade concertopportunityand we were having a ball. ber and director of the John J. Cali School of Music bands and jazz ensembles, with a resurging career asHe was also having a ball in the classroom. Iat Montclair State University; Dr. Qawi Telesford, 16/ matters magazine / spring 2023'