Steve Masakowski (b. 1954) is a New Orleans native who studied at Berklee, invented an early version of the keytar in 1978, and became one of the most respected jazz guitarists in the city’s modern era. He joined Astral Project in 1987 and remained with them for decades; released two albums on Blue Note Records in the mid-90s; and spent thirty years at the University of New Orleans, eventually as Coca-Cola Endowed Chair of Jazz Studies before retiring in 2022. He has performed with Ellis Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Woody Shaw, and many others.
His daughter Sasha Masakowski is a singer, composer, and electronic music producer — she also records and performs as Tra$h Magnolia, exploring the outer edges of vocal and electronic composition. His son Martin Masakowski is a double bassist, a first-call collaborator on the New Orleans scene, and a trained luthier who designed the custom MAZ Bass travel instrument. Their mother, Ulrike Antonie Sprenger, is a German concert pianist and visual artist whose paintings appear on several of the family’s album covers.
