Vocals
Current Member of:
Formerly with:
Frequent Venues:
Website: SashaMasakowski.com
Social Networks: Facebook – Twitter - Myspace - Reverbnation
Featured Albums:
Press: [From The Advocate] [Offbeat's review of Musical Playground] [From BetweenTheGrooves] [School Days: Jazz Alumni of NOCCA: Offbeat] [GasaGasa article]
Education:
Whatever the music demands, Sasha becomes. From sultry Brazilian romance to bluesy balladry, she infuses it all with playful personality and pristine execution.
Sasha credits her family as a continuous inspiration. Her father Steve Masakowski, a member of famed New Orleans jazz quartet Astral Project, is known for a lifetime of musical achievement. Naturally, Steve urged his daughter to pursue a career in New Orleans.
Sasha trained at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, gaining a background in musical theater that helps make her enchanting to watch. She’s a graduate of the University of New Orleans Jazz Studies Program, and though Sasha frequently performs in New York City, she ultimately decided to reside in her hometown. New York provided ample exposure for the up-and-coming star, but New Orleans’ cultural riches brought her back.
It wasn’t long after Sasha returned home that her hard work began to pay off. In 2009, she was honored with the Big Easy Music Award for Best Emerging Artist of the Year, and has won nominations in at least one category every year since.
Released in 2009, Sasha’s first album, Musical Playground, is an enduring introduction to her musical offerings. Her ambitious multilingual follow-up, Wishes, showcases her range and ambition, featuring a Portuguese version of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars”.
With this pair of ace albums to her name, Sasha has traveled the world, bringing her inimitable voice to Beijing to as a resident performer at the Shangri La Hotels. She’s a main event at several New York City venues–yet there’s still no place like home. Well-versed in the rich history of New Orleans music, she comes to the stage with a world of knowledge in her mind, and a direct line to the audience’s heart.
