With Vox One Yumiko’s drdream came true – an a cappella quintet that sings all kinds of songs, but with our own twist. The members are Jodi Jenkins Ainsworth (soprano), Paul Stiller (tenor), Paul Pampinella (baritone), Tom Baskett (bass) and Yumiko (alto). Our albums are listed below. You can listen to all of our albums on various platforms incuding YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music. You can also listen to my compositions/arrangments via Soundcloud.
Vox One (1993) – our debut album.
Yumiko wrote “Why Blue?” and arranged “The Water is Wide,” “Ol’ Man River,” “My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night!” and “Could You Believe.” Here’s an excerpt from “Why Blue?”
Out There (1995) – an album with most originals by the members.
Yumiko wrote “The Eyes of a Jungle” and “Save Me.”
Listen to an excerpt of “The Eyes of a Jungle.”
Say You Love Me (1995) – originally released in Japan.
Yumiko arranged “Time after time,” “It’s Too Late,” “Lovin’ You,” and “White Christmas.”
You can listen to an excerpt from “Lovin’ You.”
Chameleon (1997) – with Benni Chawes on bass.
Yumiko arranged “Danny Boy,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” and “Over the Rainbow.”
Check out a little bit of “Danny Boy.”
Pure Imagination (2006) – after a few years of hiatus, we came back strong.
Yumiko arranged “Pure Imagination,” “Simple Gifts,” “Woodstock,” and “Leave It To Me.”
Here is an excerpt from “Simple Gifts.”
In 2008 Yumiko released an anthology of her works, including some instrumental pieces.
To Every Thing There Is A Season, featuring many wonderful musicians including Acousticity, The Western Wind, Boston Jazz Voices, Syncopation, and Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble. You can listen to an excerpt of “Brett,” written for two acoustic guitars.
If you like what you hear, you can listen to more tracks from the album by going to Yumiko’s SoundCloud page.
Some of Yumiko’s arrangements are available for purchase from the UNC Jazz Press and Sheet Music Pus.
In Japan, Edition Kawai has published a collection of her arrangements, featuring songs from the British Isles. It contains “The Water is Wide,” “Scarborough Fair,” “Annie Laurie,” “Danny Boy” and “What Child is This.” Please note that the link is in Japanese.
Here’s the video of Michael Jackson’s “Bad,”arranged for Inhyeok Yeo who sings everything himself.
Commissioned by Robert Eisenstein of Folger Consort, this was written in 2015 for a series of performances by Stile Antico of England and Arcadia Viols of Northampton, MA, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. The text was taken from “Tempest.”
In 2014 Yumiko had the opportunity to work with the Grammy-winning Houston Chamber Choir when they performed a program entitled “Love Me Do! Love Songs of the ’60s.” In it a few of her Beatles arrangements were featured, including “Eleanor Rigby,” “Come together,” “Love me do,” “Yesterday” “With a little help from my friends,” and “In my life.”
During the pandemic, Yumiko’s former student Thiago Vitorio started a project where 60 artists from all over the world recorded John Lennon’s “Imagine” at home. Yumiko arranged the background vocals and sang.
Another project during the pandemic was writing a 4-part arrangement of “She Moved Through the Fair,” an Irish folk song. Jodi Jenkins Ainsworth and Paul Pampinella of Vox One, Amy Malkoff and Yumiko recorded their own part at home. Mixed by Matthew Girard, mastered by Bill Hare, and video supplied by Amy, it shows that music can survive COVID-19 if we keep trying.