photo by Amy Malkoff

Even with Jodi Jenkins-Ainsworth late into her pregnancy, and Paul Pampinella getting over an illness, the group displayed the impressive vocal chops that have garnered them a following of musicians and non-musicians alike, who stayed fans even through their 7-year hiatus. Opening with the title track from their newest CD, “Pure Imagination” (from the 1971 cult movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”), Jodi’s transcendent voice soared and the bar was set – high - for the rest of the show.

Other set highlights included Yumiko Matsuoka’s stunning arrangement of the traditional Shaker tune “Simple Gifts”, and Paul Stiller’s jaw-dropping “Kind of a 3” (based on a North Indian Hindustani tihai cadence, arr. by Jerry Leake), wherein Stiller becomes the “teacher” to the rest of the group, who parrot impossible rhythmic lines back to him in increasing speed. Somehow, it manages to be incredibly funny and amazing all at once. Their easygoing banter with the audience was just the icing on the cake at this typically impressive Vox One performance. 

Hear samples of and from "Pure Imagination" and order it and/or other Vox One recordings here.  

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