From an early age, Jessica has been actively involved in all aspects of the arts, successfully navigating a career involving music, fine arts and theatre. She began performing as an actress, playing many comedic, dramatic, and musical roles for various equity and non-equity theatres, as well as many short film and video projects in and around the Chicago metropolitan area. Of note is Jessica's participation in the award-winning comedy troupe Monsters from the Id. Some of her work as an actress and a voice-over artist has been seen/heard on NBC, Chicago's WGN, and Chicago's WTTW, in addition to numerous short film and video festivals in Chicago and across the U.S.

Jessica studied fine art and vocal performance her first two years in college before matriculating to the prestigious University of Chicago, where she graduated with honors in fine art and art history. During her college years, Jessica devoted most of her time to study while continuing her love of the arts – particularly with the performance of her controversial conceptual art pieces.

Post-graduation, Jessica shared lead singing duties in the reggae/soul/ska band, The Adjusters, with whom she has recorded three lps, toured the United States, and appeared in venues across Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium. With The Adjusters, Jessica has frequently shared the stage with the illustrious Skatalites, the Slackers, and Dr. Ring Ding and the Senior AllStars.

Now living in Los Angeles, Jessica participates in a vast array of sessions and projects, from soul, reggae, and neo-funk, to dance theatre, ambient and experimental music, and acoustic folk. Jessica’s strength as a vocalist lies in her flexibility and mastery of a variety of styles. She currently performs, tours, and teaches with the local quintet, Moira Smiley and VOCO, digging deep into the amazing spectrum of human voice. VOCO, founded in 2005, performs with the energy of the street, while taking risks through improvisation and exploration of the wild side of harmony and rhythm. With VOCO, Jessica has collaborated with Howard Levy, Tim Erikson, and Weba Garretson (to name a few), and appeared at festivals alongside Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Michael Franti & Spearhead, and Nickel Creek.

Jessica recently appeared as a guest vocalist in Trip Dance Theatre’s Breath and Bone, as lead vocalist of 60s soul outfit Chickenfat, backup vocalist for Ashley Maher, and is currently contributing to the collaborative recording collective Taco de Gato.

CREDITS AND PRESS:

- Rench - "Life in Mean Season" - guest vocalist (Brooklyn, 2006)
- VOCO - "Blink" - vocals, body percussion (MoiraMusic, Los Angeles, 2006)
- TRIP Dance Theatre - "Breath and Bone" - vocalist (Los Angeles, Culver City, 2006, 2005)
- Moira Smiley - "Rua" - guest vocalist (MoiraMusic, Los Angeles, 2006)
- VOCO - "5 Songs" - vocals, body percussion, 2005
- Dance Theatre (San Francisco) - "JoB" - guest vocalist, 2004
- The Adjusters - "Otis Redding Will Save America" - vocals (Grover Records, Munster, Germany, 2003)
- “Stormwarning: an Adjusters Anthology 1996-2001” - vocals (Grover Records, Munster, Germany, 2002)
- The Adjusters - "Before the Revolution" - vocals, percussion (Moon Records, New York, 1998) Listed by Chicago's New City as one of the 8 best Chicago records of 1998!
- The Adjusters - "The Politics of Style" - vocals (JumpUp!, Chicago, 1997)

QUOTES:

"Thanks to the excellent contributions of vocalists Linda May Wacker, Jess Williams and Jessica Basta, Americana has never sounded so sexy!" ~ Ctrl. Alt. Country, August 2007 (review of Rench's Life in Mean Season)

"The old Bobbie Gentry song [Fancy] is hardly PC in it's message, but it's nicely done in this border crossing electronic music from Brooklyn. Jessica Basta sings so beautifully that one immediately wants to know more about her." ~Rootsy.nu, February 2007 (Lennart Persson)

"...it is mostly when Jessica Basta is at the microphone that one reacts. The version of Bobbie Gentry's Fancy is like Lennart already pointed out, very beautiful." ~Rootsy.nu, February 2007 (Ola Karlsson)

“…Charlie Campagna's score seduces you with an impressive array of textures and rhythms that artfully exploit the resources of four-channel audio and, especially, the improvisational capabilities of vocalists Jessica Basta and Moira Smiley.” ~Los Angeles Times, January 2006 (Review of Trip Dance Theatre’s Breath and Bone)

“With the talented ensemble of dancers of the Trip Dance Theatre company, as well as gifted musical composer Charlie Campagna and (VOCO) vocalists Moira Smiley and Jessica Basta, (Artistic Director Monica) Favand weaves an enchanting, impressionistic evening of dance and media.” ~Backstage West, January 2006 (Review of Trip Dance Theatre’s Breath and Bone)

“The intoxicating live vocals of Jess Basta and Moira Smiley enhanced [Trip Dance Theater’s] ‘Ups and Downs’…” ~ Dance Magazine, January 2006

 "The liners will tell you that you bought the record for the cover of the Stylistics' 'People Make the World Go Round,' and when you hear Jessica Basta's soaring vocals, you'll find that hard to deny..." ~Ink19

"Some of the more powerful and rich tracks, though, are the band's experiments in early 70s flavors featuring the enticing lead vocals of Jessica Basta." ~about.com