Sasha Masakowski remembers being six years old, seated at the piano next to her father -- the renowned jazz guitarist, Steve Masakowski.
“He’d play harmonies as background on the guitar, and he would encourage me to improvise,” Sasha recalls. “He’d tell me to play something using just the white keys or just the black keys, and I’d make up music.”
She says she was a little composer playing along with her dad in their New Orleans home.
“I love those memories,” she adds.
More than two decades later, Sasha, now 33, is an accomplished musician in her own right. She’s released five albums in her young career and was recently nominated as New Orleans’ best female vocalist.
Father and daughter still collaborate these days, though in a more official capacity. They play in the Masakowski Family Band, a group that includes Sasha’s brother, Martin -- a virtuosic bassist. The trio has traveled and performed as far away as Europe, but the COVID pandemic means all current gigs are virtual.
On a recent Friday evening, the Masakowskis converted a room in their home into a performance space. They headlined one in a series of local events honoring legendary jazz musician Ellis Marsalis, who recently died from COVID-19.
“Ellis and I used to play together twice a week and I’m proud to pay tribute to him with music,” Steve says, “but to be able to do that with my daughter and son makes it even more special.”
Musical household
For the Marsalis tribute, Steve wanted to perform music he and Ellis enjoyed playing together. One piece was an old original composition by Steve called “Sweet Dreams.”
“I asked Sasha to write lyrics to it for this performance,” he says. “She did a beautiful job. To have your daughter write lyrics to your song -- what Dad isn’t going to love that? And she has a great ear for it.”
It’s easy to understand how Sasha developed that ear. She grew up in a household in which music was always on. Her father wasn’t her only musically-inclined parent. Her mother is a successful, classically trained pianist.
Sasha says some of her earliest memories are of the Brazilian melodies her parents played throughout the house.
“I’d hear songs like ‘The Girl from Ipanema,’ and I’d pretend I was a Brazilian and sing along in fake Portuguese.”
As Sasha got older, though, she says her interest in jazz faded.
“I think she saw the kind of music I played as music for old people,” her Dad explains.
Sasha went to a local arts high school and focused on musical theater. She developed a love for a different kind of music: that of Britney Spears and NSYNC.
But her parents were careful not to push her, no matter how tempted they might have been.
“My Dad was weary of me being a professional musician, and look what I decided to do,” Steve says. “Kids do the opposite of what their parents encourage, and I just wanted her to be happy.”
But Steve admits to hoping his kids would develop a love for jazz.
“Of course, I hoped for that. I know the joy music can bring to life and I wanted them to have that.”
Developing a passion
There’s some minor disagreement between Steve and Sasha about the details leading to her eventual rediscovery of jazz music.
Steve recalls, “I think she might have had a couple of friends in high school who were jazz musicians.”
Sasha’s version involves a little more teenage passion.
“I was a sophomore and had this massive crush on a cute guy who was a couple of grades older than me,” she says laughing. “He was in the jazz department and really seemed to love it.”
Sasha says she admired him from afar until the day they met.
“I was so excited, and the first thing he did was take my hands into his and say, “Oh my God, you have his hands! I’m such a big fan of your Dad’s!”
She says the exchange forced her to consider an uncomfortable possibility -- that maybe her father and his music were, in fact, cool.
At the end of high school -- and at least one additional romance with a jazz musician later -- Sasha decided to study jazz in college instead of musical theater. She enrolled at the University of New Orleans, where her father headed the Jazz Studies Program.
“There was this one class I taught that both my kids were enrolled in at the same time,” Steve remembers. “They kept calling me ‘Dad’ in class -- which drove me nuts -- but otherwise it was nice.”
Developing a talent
Sasha and Steve love playing together and they cherish the common language jazz gives them, but a relationship that close can sometimes have its challenges.
It’s her father’s diligence that Sasha says has allowed him to become such a renowned musician.
“He has a drive to be so good. There’s a reason he’s the best,” she says, “but that work ethic means he won’t tolerate me being on my phone during a rehearsal and he’s never shy to give me things to work on afterwards.”
Sasha says she doesn’t mind his criticism, though, because she knows he’s coming from a place of love.
“He wants me to succeed. I know that. So he’ll give me something to work on, and then I have to decide whether I should prioritize that or prioritize things that are more aligned with my own goals.”
Both compose music, but while her father is more focused on traditional jazz and teaching, Sasha likes to produce music that trends more electronic than Steve’s.
“Not only is it the style of music that’s different, it’s also a generational thing,” he says. “Sometimes she’s on her phone because musicians today have to be marketing wizards, video editors and so much more. When I want to focus on one particular musical skill, she has a lot more on her plate.”
Despite diverging interests, Steve’s pride in his children is clear.
“With Sasha, I remember her singing from her stroller,” he says. “We were in an old church in Germany and she was just a little kid, but she was so fascinated with how her voice sounded with the acoustics.”
Today, Sasha is known for her musicality and her ability to improvise or “scat.” It’s a skill that’s not common among singers.
“I don’t think she thinks of herself as a singer,” Steve explains. “She’s an instrumentalist, and she can improvise just like a trumpet player or a pianist or a saxophonist.”
For Sasha, though, improvising is about something much more personal.
“I just feel so free when I’m doing it,” she says. “Improvising scares a lot of vocalists, but for me I feel like a little composer again at the piano next to my Dad. I love it in large part because of him.”
Editor’s note: This report continues a VOA series highlighting the accomplishments of father-daughter duos across America - and celebrating cross-generational ties and common purpose between fathers and daughters ahead of Father’s Day, June 21.
