About
The word shikantaza refers to a form of Buddhist meditation. It literally translates as just sitting.
Shikantaza founders Douglas Miller and Brandon Lewin launched the Shikantaza Organic Law Music Project in 2007 as a vessel for soothing and melodic musical messages.
The Shikantaza ensemble defines meaning, music, and emotion into performance presentations while exhibiting discipline in precise dynamic movements.
The Core Trio
DOUG MILLER studied classical piano with F. Ming Chang, popular and jazz piano with the late Norman Schnell (pianist for Gene Krupa), and gospel piano and organ with Lillette Jenkins-Wisner. More recently, he developed his improvisational skills under the tutelage of composer and pianist Laurie Altman. Doug is the founding member of the jazz trio Shikantaza, but also plays with the avant garde group Bitches Brew and other jazz
collectives, as well as appearing from time to time playing pop with the band Jade, folk, bluegrass, and country with Spring Street, and gypsy swing with Stringjazz. When not rehearsing and performing, he devotes himself to musical research, composition, arranging, and production of soundtracks for independent film and video clients. His mythic musical mentors are Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz, Miles Davis, Captain Beefheart, Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Ry Cooder, Sun Ra, Thelonious Sphere Monk, and Fats Waller.
BRANDON LEWIN grew up in a musical family in Princeton, NJ. Fascinated by the smooth roll a snare drummer could achieve with just two sticks, he was inspired to take up percussion in the sixth grade. In high school, Brandon played for student productions of Babes in Arms and Guys and Dolls, reading actual Broadway charts. At Rutgers he studied jazz history with Thelonious Monk bassist Larry Ridley, and performance with Al Harewood, who recorded with Curtis Fuller, Dexter Gordon, and Ella Fitzgerald. In the 1970’s, he joined the original rock, blues, and country band Heavy Trucking, which headlined at college campuses, sometimes opening for recording artists like Patti Smith. He studied for many years with the late Tony Denicola, the beloved Trenton-based legend who replaced Gene Krupa in the Harry James band in the 1940′s. Gerry Hemingway, famous for his tenure with saxophone innovator Anthony Braxton, has been Brandon’s teacher in recent years. Abiding influences include Rufus ‘Speedy’ Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Miles Davis, the Heath Brothers, and Brandon’s brother, Gene Lewin! By day, Brandon is a Technology Administrator for Coldwell Banker – Princeton.
Born in Gengenbach, in the Black Forest region of Germany, BERNHARD GEIGER took piano and organ lessons from age ten from Arthur Münzer. In the course of his classical studies he discovered Bach. At age twenty, he started playing the double bass, studying with Johannes Schädlich (Jazz) and Laura McCreary (Classical). Bernhard has played with: the Thilo Wagner Trio and Threebop (Germany), Swing Line (France), and the Eric Haltmeier Trio, Cranbury Jazz, Tom Hyland Trio, The Ponds Big Band, and Shikantaza (USA). He admires Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Thelonius Monk, and John Coltrane, among others. Bernhard is a software engineer specializing in medical imaging.
Our Esteemed Vocalists
LORI PANTALEO was born in Albany, New York. After her family moved to Chappaqua, she studied piano with Franziska White. She sang with the Concert, Madrigal and Girl’s Octet Choirs at Horace Greeley High School, performed in cabarets, and played Reno Sweeney in “Anything Goes.” She is a graduate of Skidmore College, where she majored in Voice Performance. She has sung classical music with various groups over the years, including the Princeton United Methodist Church Choir, the Princeton Singers, and the jazz trio Shikantaza. To celebrate her parents’ 80th birthdays, she compiled ingenious tribute medleys, with cleverly revised lyrics appropriate to each. Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy LaMott, Diane Reeves, Tony Bennett, and Mel Torme are a few of her favorite singers. Lori is in her 14th year of teaching Spanish at the Chapin School in Princeton.
A native of New Orleans, ROBERT BULLINGTON began his musical training at Loyola University,
where he earned his Bachelor of Music in 1987. He earned his Masters of Music from Boston University in 1990, then toured with the Young Audiences program of the Opera Company of Boston. A three-month German course in Vienna turned into a six-year career with the Vienna-based United Nations Organizations. While there, he appeared as a soloist with the Vienna A Capella Teachers Chorus. His musical passions are art song and chamber music. He currently studies with Elem Eley and Dalton Baldwin. He is President of the Music Club of Princeton and has served on the Lotte Lehmann Foundation’s Board of Directors. Robert owns Front Row Seat Productions, a studio and location recording service in Bordentown, NJ. He has great admiration for Thomas Hampson, Chet Baker, and John Pizzarelli.
