Sasha Masakowski (born 1986) is an American jazz singer.
She was born in
and is the daughter of jazz guitarist
Steve Masakowski
Steve Masakowski (born September 2, 1954) is jazz guitarist, educator, and inventor. He invented the guitar-based keytar and the switch pick, and has designed three custom-built seven-string guitars. He developed an approach to playing the guit ...
and concert pianist Ulrike Antonie Sprenger.
She heard jazz at an early age due to her father's association with
Ellis Marsalis Jr.
She attended the University of New Orleans, where her father led the Jazz Studies department.
She names as influences
Bobby McFerrin
Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...
,
Rachelle Ferrell
Rachelle Ferrell (born May 21, 1961) is an American vocalist and musician. Although she has had some success in the mainstream R&B, pop, gospel and classical music scenes, she is noted for her talents as a contemporary jazz singer. In contem ...
, and
Flora Purim
Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with nu ...
.
She performs in the Masakowski Family Band with her father and her brother Martin, who plays bass and is part of her ''Art Market'' band.
Her debut album ''Wishes'' (Hypersoul, 2011) was recorded with and produced by pianist
James Westfall
James Westfall is a jazz vibraphonist and keyboardist born in Houston, Texas.
He began on violin at age 6 before moving to piano and then percussion. He became interested in vibraphone due in part to his grandfather. (Who learned the instrumen ...
.
Awards and honors
* Nominated Best Female Vocalist and Best Emerging Artist, ''Offbeat'' magazine, 2009
Discography
* ''Wishes'' (Hypersoul, 2011)
* ''Old Green River'' (2015)
* ''Hildegard'' with Hildegard (2015)
* ''N.O. Escape'' with Masakowski Family (2016)
* ''Art Market'' (
Ropeadope, 2018)
As guest
*
Irvin Mayfield
Irvin Mayfield Jr. (born December 23, 1977) is an American trumpeter, composer, bandleader and educator. On November 3, 2021, Mayfield was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defrauding the New Orleans public library system from over one mill ...
, ''New Orleans Jazz Playhouse'' (
Basin Street Basin Street or Rue Bassin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery. It c ...
, 2015)
*
Now vs. Now, ''The Buffering Cocoon'' (
Jazzland, 2018)
References
External links
*
1986 births
Living people
Singers from New Orleans
American women jazz singers
American jazz singers
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American women
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