Vox One

Vox One is an award-winning a cappella jazz quintet that combines elements of blues, funk, gospel, and folk into their own brand of vocal music, which is "most adventurous and distinctive." - San Francisco Examiner. The group, formed in 1988, has since developed a unique style considered to be the cutting edge of a cappella. "This jazz quintet puts all kinds of throat sounds to such funky good use that listeners break into applause and - better - feel like dancing." - Boston Magazine.

Vox One has performed internationally, and has opened for Ray Charles, Chicago, the Persuasions, the Bobs, the Woody Herman Orchestra, and the Count Basie Orchestra. The group earns wide acclaim for their performances and CDs. Their awards include "Best A cappella Group, Jazz" - Boston Magazine. Vox One's eponymous debut CD was named "Best Album" and awarded "Best Song" by the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA): "Creative arrangements and soulful spark... fabulous lead vocalists, and exquisite blend, a great vocal percussion sound, and lots of class." Their second US release “Out There,” won "Album of the Year," "Best Jazz Song," and "Best R&B song" by CASA. “...as defining an album for vocal jazz as Singers Unlimited "A Capella" and Take 6's debut album...it’s that good.” -Primarily A Cappella. With their 1998 album “Chameleon,” Vox One was named “Artist of the Year,” and once again it earned “Best Jazz Album” and “Best Jazz Song.”

Jodi Jenkins-Ainsworth (soprano), Yumiko Matsuoka (alto), Paul Stiller (tenor/vocal drums), Paul Pampinella (baritone) and Tom Baskett (bass), met at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where all of them are now (or have been) on the faculty. Vox One composes and arranges in many styles and settings. A first-time listener of Vox One may be amazed to hear a variety of instruments such as drums, bass, horns, and guitar. "I am beside myself how Vox One produces the sound they do with the human voice." - Northeast Performer. Other arrangements use tight, lush voicings and interesting reharmonizations which give familiar songs a new twist. "Vox One manages to transform a white-bread classic like "Edelweiss" into something more surprising, and yes, even funky...a tricky, intelligent arrangement." - James Marcus, JazzTimes.

Members:-

Tom Baskett has performed for hundreds of studio recordings and live engagements. A graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, and founding member of Vox One, Tom continues to perform regularly for enthusiastic audiences at venues in the Boston area. Most recently, Tom and Vox One worked with famed jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal and veteran vocalist Donna McElroy on Jamal's 2005 release, "After Fajr."

Jodi Jenkins Ainsworth is an assistant professor in the Voice Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. She teaches all styles, but specializes in gospel, R&B, and Jazz. As a studio singer she has benn heard commercially across the nation in radio and television spots for TCBY, Sears, Mother's Cookies, and Boston.com. She enjoys working as a clinician and adjudicator with various vocal jazz and a cappella groups around the country, and is also an active worship leader and pianist. Jodi has been performing with Vox One since 1991.

Yumiko Matsuoka, originally from Tokyo, Japan, is an active clinician, adjudicator and choral director, working locally, nationally and in her home country.  Her arrangements and compositions have garnered wide acclaim, and various ensembles including m-pact, the 20th Century Consort, Women Singing, Euphoria and Dare to Breathe, have commissioned her.  In 2002, Yumiko was also asked to compose a song by the city of Matsuyama, Japan, to commemorate the centennial of the death of Japan’s premier poet, Masaoka Shiki. Most recently, she wrote the new alma mater following the merger of two junior high schools in the outskirts of the city of Takayama, Japan. As an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, she teaches ear training. and for four years also taught vocal writing – a class that launched her dream when she came to study in the U.S.

Paul Pampinella, a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, is a veteran vocalist, arranger/composer, and clinician with two Boston-based a cappella ensembles; Vox One and Five O’Clock Shadow. Paul has written and arranged songs on eight albums between the two groups. With Five O’Clock Shadow, he has given hundreds of clinics on topics such as vocal technique, performance skills, and arranging. Currently, Paul is on the faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston, teaches voice privately, and continues to work with both groups on a part-time basis.

Paul Stiller is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, and Berklee College of Music. He has been on the Ear Training faculty at Berklee since 1995. Aside from his work with Vox One as producer, arranger, singer, and vocal percussionist, he is also an active studio singer, keyboardist, and arranger/producer with other groups, and has worked with nationally acclaimed acts such as Club d'Elf, Rhythm Slam, and Toxic Audio. His commercial work includes Sears, TCBY Yogurt, State Farm Insurance, Hood Milk, Pontiac/GMC, Superior Coffee, International Trucks, and Dr. Pepper.

Discography

Pure Imagination

Pure Imagination Kind of a 3 Improv 1 Simple Gifts Improv 2 Try Take Me Out To The Ballgame Improv 3 Woodstock Leave It To Me Improv 4 Aura Lee Improv 5 I Wish You Know

What immediately strikes one upon listening to Vox One’s new “Pure Imagination” CD is how good they are – not in a flashy, notice we are brilliant singers kind of way, but in a deeply felt, technically beyond question, born to sing way that shows us all of us lesser talents how its done. After seven years, one of a cappella’s most accomplished (and recognized) vocal jazz groups returns to the CD player with a satisfying collection of originals, covers and improvs.  Yes, Vox One has matured and is exploring new styles, including Indian ragas and world music tinged vocal jams.  For those loyal listeners who loved “Chameleon,” "Out There" and "Say You Love Me" and have been waiting for an encore, there are the standards such as “Pure Imagination” (written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley), and the traditional “Aura Lee,” but there are plenty of new songs composed by the group, as well as the six improvised tracks that offer plenty of room for the the five members (Yumiko Matsuoka, Paul Pampinella, Paul Stiller, Jodi Jenkins Ainsworth and Tom Baskett) to stake out new vocal territory.  These Berklee College of Music faculty members exemplify what it is to harmonize, blend and intonate with sublime perfection, and we thank them!

Listen to Pure Imagination in Real Audio

Say You Love Me

My Cherie Amour Time After Time Say You Love Me Shenandoah Whisper When I Speak It's Too Late Autumn Leaves Lovin' You Out There White Christmas

This Japanese import features seven songs not before released in the U.S.. For fans of Vox One, we are already preaching to the choir, but for the uninitiated, this contemporary jazz quintet has all of the technique of the Real Group, with a compelling edge of intensity and emotion. Therefore, a traditional such as "Shenandoah," using brilliant dynamics, phrasing and an admirable combination of tension and release, is transcendent, whereas classic pop - Carol King's "It's Too Late" - is given a heartbreaking harmonic complexity and richness. The arpeggiated chord accompaniment in the verse, so simple, yet effective, shows why a talented arranger can elevate the ordinary to greatness. When Vox One swings into the standard, "Autumn Leaves," they prove that they do no less than weave straw into gold.

Listen to the following in Real Audio: "Shenandoah", "Lovin' You" and "Say You Love Me"

Chameleon

Chameleon Naima (My Dreams) Moonglow All Blues Danny Boy On Green Dolphin Street You Don't Know What Love Is Over the Rainbow Teen Town Round Midnight

This may well be the last (sob, tell me it ain't so!) album of jazz virtuosos, Vox One." These musicians created the most polished jazz (on the rock and blues edge of the spectrum) by anyone so far. Meticulous arrangements sung by superb performers make you forget any prior arrangement that was the benchmark to your mind's ear for how a particular song was supposed to sound. From the opening wail of the vocal electric guitar and definitive drum beat on "Chameleon" to the complex chord structures on "Round Midnight," you will be lost in a panoply of possibilities for the human voice. John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Harold Arlen, Herbie Hancock, Theolonius Monk and more are treated with nothing short of the genius they deserve.

Listen to "Chameleon" and "Round Midnight" in Real Audio.

Out There

Searching For You Whisper When I Speak The Eyes Of A Jungle Gone By Save Me The Sky Is Crying Say You'll Always Be That Which You Love Morning Out There

In announcing the CARA winners for 1996, the Contemporary A Cappella Newsletter used the following statement to announce the Album Of The Year. "In a year of extremely strong nominees for best album, Vox One's little-publicized "Out There" takes first place because it has everything. Exceptional songwriting, glowing arrangements, magnificent solo performances and top rate production all combine to make this the sleeper album of 1995. Somehow Vox One manages to combine elements of pop, rock, blues and jazz without compromising the exacting demands of any of the styles. The resulting blend is infectious and definitive, proving "Out There" to be one of the best contemporary albums ever." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Listen to Whisper When I Speak in Real Audio.

Vox One

Edelweiss My Romance Why Blue? The Water Is Wide Respect Ol' Man River Move On My Old Kentucky Home Could You Believe Missin' You Amazing Grace

As you might suspect from the self-titling, this is the first recording released in what has come to be recognized as the must-have trilogy of albums by Vox One. Lets go though it. "Edelweiss" is such a difficult harmonization that it became a signature performance tune for the group. "My Romance" almost sounds like a pop/jazz standard only better. "Why Blue" was written by member Yumiko Matsuoka and features a bass and percussive underpinning to a complex wordless scat that's nothing short of great. "The Water Is Wide" is just plain beautiful. "Respect"... well, move over Aretha (sacrilege!). There isn't room in this review! Suffice it to say that the three originals are a portent of things to come, the covers original.

Listen to My Old Kentucky Home in Real Audio.

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