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Bennie Jackson, Male Lead Vocals — Heavily influenced by artists such as James Brown, Wilson Pickett, and Levi Stubbs – just to name a few – lead vocalist Bennie Jackson has been performing since the age of 6. After getting his start in his church’s Junior Choir and elementary school Glee Club as a child, Bennie founded his first group: a five-man vocal group known as The Enchanted Aces, who traveled with the WJMO Radio Mobile Show for four years.
At 17, Bennie joined the US Armed Forces, and continued to perform during his nine-year commitment – including all over Europe, where he had the honor of performing with Wilson Pickett at the famed Oktoberfest in Stuttgart, Germany. Upon returning home to Cleveland in 1975, Bennie formed and fronted for local groups such as Hot Ice, Remember When, The Jackson Brothers, and Masterpiece, a Motown and dance band that lasted thirteen years. Bennie is thrilled to be back on the scene with his latest project: Masterpiece.
Angela Paulini, Female Lead Vocals — Classically-trained with a Vocal Performance degree from Bowling Green State University, Angela has been singing from the moment she was able to talk! Over the years, Angela has been involved in several projects ranging from musical theater & opera to pop/rock, including recently being a guest vocalist with the band Sister Esther in northeastern Pennsylvania prior to joining Masterpiece.
Caylee Volker, Horn — Caylee is an administrative professional by day and a professional trumpet player by night. She creates and plays with many different bands including Masterpiece, The Diamond Project, and The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra. Caylee has worked with many reputable directors and instructors including Jack Shantz, Paul Ferguson, Bobby Sanabria, Scott Johnston and Dr. Mark Dulin, among others.
Ms. Volker holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and loves to play many different genres of music. Some of her greatest accomplishments are traveling to Spain and Portugal with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, receiving the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, and receiving the Scott Johnston Trumpet Award from The University of Akron. Caylee is an animal lover and world traveler and can’t wait to keep making music with her fellow colleagues!
Gary Zielski, Bass — Like many of our bandmates, Gary is no stranger to the northeastern Ohio music scene, having performed professionally for many years! Gary’s stylings on the bass has given us an extra funky sound!
Dan Watkins, Keyboards — Classically trained, Dan Watkins is a veteran keyboard player. Having been in a variety of local bands over the past three decades, Dan’s greatest joy comes from being able to play alongside his daughter, Masterpiece’s own horn player, Caylee (Watkins) Volker.
Jim Dzurilla, Lead Guitar — Jim is no stranger to the Northeast Ohio music scene. He started his music career playing in downtown Cleveland with Impetus, a horn group, playing the college clubs in the early 1970’s. He has since been in the acoustic rock Senior Class Band, Boogie Nites a Motown and Disco group. Jim has performed at many popular venues throughout the area with ContraBand including the Hard Rock Rocksino and Fox 8 in the morning. He has also been involved in music ministry at various churches. Now as part of Masterpiece, he is performing at various clubs and outdoor venues throughout the NorthEast Ohio area. Jim is married to Pat (Lisowski) and just celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary.
Roger Kochan, Drums & Vocals — Masterpiece’s resident beatmaster, Roger is the newest member of Masterpiece. Roger has played professionally in many bands over the years including, Pineapple Wine, Three Eyed Jack Mystic Taxi & Canyon Wind. In addition to drums, Roger sings backup vocals for the group.
Tom Thiry, (Dr. Funk) Keyboards, Horn & Vocals — Tom , brings a wealth of experience to Masterpiece having played in bands all around Northeast Ohio for over three decades. Tom’s versatility has added extra depth and dimension to our band, as you can hear him on the trombone, keyboards, on backing vocals — and even lead vocals on a few special songs!