Sasha Masakowski, daughter of jazz guitar luminary Steve Masakowski, was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and has been a leading artist on the New Orleans music scene for many years as a vocalist, composer and producer. 

Sasha was listed as one of 12 jazz artists to watch in 2019 by Paste Magazine, Offbeat Magazine calls her “One of the brightest young talents in the Big Easy,” Vanity Fair Magazine listed Sasha as one of the top jazz musicians in the U.S. and Downbeat Magazine has named Sasha among the most innovative musicians coming out of New Orleans to date. 

Over the last several years, Sasha has performed with her band at major clubs and festivals across the United States and abroad, such as the legendary Blue Note (NYC), Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, Cotton Club Tokyo, Jazz Standard (NYC), Detroit Jazz Festival, SF Jazz Center (San Francisco), Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Bird’s Basement (Melbourne) San Jose Jazz Festival, Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum, and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, among others. 

Sasha’s approach to music is as playful, charismatic, and spontaneous as her personality. Her influences draw from jazz to electronic music to rock and she performs frequently in fully improvised settings to help cultivate her exotic style. Sasha has earned a reputation internationally as a daring, fearless improviser and a charming interpreter, working often alongside other progressive, genre-defying musicians such as Nicholas Payton, Jason Lindner, Zach Danziger, Kevin Scott, Adonis Rose, Tarionna “Tank” Ball, Sullivan Fortner, Mike Moreno and Aurora Nealand to name a few. 

“Listening to the music of New Orleans native Sasha Masakowski makes one feel more secure about the future and continued vitality of jazz” – Hot House Jazz Magazine

While Sasha still stands as one of the most prominent voices on the New Orleans music scene, she splits her time between her home town and Brooklyn, NY where she continues to earn a reputation as an ingenious improviser, composer and performer. She currently leads two bands of her own that range from New Orleans modern jazz (Art Market) to electronic art-rock (Tra$h Magnolia).

In February 2018, Sasha was formally invited by national Danish arts program JazzDanmark to be Artist-in-Resident, where she collaborated with leading Danish jazz artists, taught composition and electronic production at two prestigious Danish music conservatories, recorded an album of original music arranged and performed by the Pagsberg Big Band, and toured the country performing extensively for 6 weeks. Upon returning to the U.S., Sasha signed a deal with Ropeadope Records and on June 8th, 2018 released her latest album Art Market to critical acclaim. In December 2019 Sasha was nominated “Best Female Vocalist” by Offbeat Magazine. 

During the 2020 pandemic, she collaborated extensively with Grammy winning artist Nicholas Payton,  co-writing and producing an experimental electronic album, Quarantined with Nick, and playing a weekly duo concert with Payton for several months, live-streamed via Blue Note NYC. In the spring of 2021 Sasha was invited to produce an album for renowned Thai singer, Rasmee. She spent several months living in Chiang Mai, co-writing, producing, singing background vocals and playing synths & electronic drums on Rasmee’s Thong Lor Cowboy album. The title track, an original song of Sasha’s, hit #1 on the pop radio charts in Thailand, and the album was nominated “Album of the Year” by Thai Pop Music Awards for 2021. 

In 2022 she performed at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival with Nicholas Payton’s trio, New World Order, featuring Sasha and guitarist Cliff Hines. They went on to record an album and recently performed at the Blue Note Jazz Festival in Napa, CA, curated by Robert Glasper and hosted by Dave Chapelle. 

“A combination of New Orleans-rooted jazz chops, mixed with a fearless ability to stretch her voice into impressive instrumental territory and a willingness to draw on the wider world of pop music into her own works: Sasha may well have one of this year’s most remarkable new releases on her hands.” Hot House Jazz Magazine on Art Market