Vox One’s evolution from talented Berklee College of Music students to one of the best vocal jazz a cappella groups in the world (and now Berklee professors, all) is one of rock solid jazz chops, experimentation, and a commitment to the music, the listener, and to each other. Members Jodi Jenkins-Ainsworth (soprano), Yumiko Matsuoka (alto), Paul Stiller (tenor/vocal drums), Paul Pampinella (baritone), and Tom Baskett (bass) have clearly honed their sound and their stage presence through the years, only improving with time.
Vox One has toured the US and internationally, opening along the way for Ray Charles, Chicago, the Persuasions, The Bobs, The Woody Herman Orchestra, and The Count Basie Orchestra. Jazz is in the DNA of all they do, but you’ll also hear elements of blues, funk, gospel, and folk. Beloved classics and sparkling originals are all done a la Vox One. While lush voicings and complex reharmonizations are stock in trade for the group, improv is also a staple of the Vox One show, where the group deftly creates full songs on the fly. Each improv is a one-time performance, something shared in the moment between audience and performers.
The San Francisco Examiner called the group “most adventurous and distinctive,” and Boston Magazine said, “This jazz quintet puts all kinds of throat sounds to such funky good use that listeners break into applause and — better — feel like dancing.”
Tom Baskett
Tom is regarded by colleagues and students for his dynamic and caring promotion of up-and-coming artists. His 30-year professional career includes credits for numerous international performances and productions in Africa, Asia, Europe and the U.S. His singing and speaking voice is heard in national and international TV, radio and web-based advertising, as well as popular artists’ recordings. At Berklee College of Music where he serves on the faculty, he mentors, coaches and directs students in creating performances which move hearts and inspire social change. Tom’s protégés includes vocalists appearing on The Voice, American Idol, and The Sing-Off, as well as major productions of Hamilton, The Color Purple, Motown: The Musical, The Lion King; and more.
Jodi Jenkins Ainsworth
Jodi is the soprano in Vox One. As a studio singer, she has been heard commercially across the US. She has done radio and television spots for TCBY, Sears, Mother’s Cookies and Boston.com and has done international spots for Meiji Confectionary Company, JOMO, Sony and Sharp. Jodi has been teaching private voice for over 20 years and is a professor in the voice department at Berklee. She specializes in Gospel, R&B, and Jazz. Jodi enjoys working as a clinician/adjudicator with various vocal jazz, a cappella groups and worship teams around the country.
Paul Pampinella
Baritone Paul Pampinella grew up singing. As a child, he made his way into New York City on a regular basis as a jingle singer, voicing some of the most popular television and radio ads of 1970’s and 80’s for Oreo, Burger King, Kit Kat, and more. A 1990 graduate of Berklee College of Music, Paul has been an Associate Professor in the Voice Department at Berklee since 2002. Paul toured extensively in the States and Japan with Vox One and Five O’Clock Shadow. Other projects have included recording and touring with Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, performing the compositions of Mexico’s “king of space age pop” Juan Garcia Esquivel. Paul also lends guitar and vocals to Boston’s Swing era Vintage Vocal Quartet and the contemporary rock duo Stack & Paul.
Paul Stiller
Paul is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. He has been on the Ear Training faculty at Berklee since 1995 and has taught Ear Training, Voice lessons, and a choral ensemble. He has opened for Stevie Ray Vaughn, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Dwight Yoakam, Ray Charles, Chicago, and the Woody Herman and Count Basie Orchestras. Commercial work includes Sears, TCBY Treats, State Farm Insurance, Hood Milk, Pontiac/GMC, Superior Coffee, International Trucks, Sharp, and Dr. Pepper. In 2012, Paul received the “Berklee Distinguished Faculty Award”, and the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire “2013 Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.”
Yumiko Matsuoka
Yumiko, originally from Tokyo, Japan, is a graduate of Berklee and a professor in the Ear Training department and has also taught vocal writing in the Contemporary Writing and Production department. Matsuoka’s arrangements and compositions can be heard on all of Vox One’s albums, her anthology To Every Thing There Is A Season, and on recordings by other a cappella groups around the globe. Recent works include arrangements of the Beatles songs for Houston Chamber Choir, a composition celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death for Stile Antico (UK) and Folger Consort (Washington, DC), as well as chapters on a cappella arranging for A Cappella Perfect Book Advanced, published in Japan. Matsuoka has also written for Japanese TV commercials including Toyota, Sharp, Meiji Seika, and Japan Energy Corporation.
Doors open at 7pm • Music starts at 7:30pm
$12/online • $15/door • Purchase tickets here.Tickets available online until 4pm on the day of the show.
