Creole Jazz Brunch

Overview

Close your eyes and be transported to the French Quarter at this Saturday morning feast for the senses. The Ocie Davis Quintet, joined by acclaimed jazz vocalist Sasha Masakowksi and trumpeter Wendell Brunious, returns for a delectable New Orleans style brunch. The sensory magic of New Orleans will be conjured up right here Charlotte. See below for more artist info.

Sasha Masakowski was born into a family of musicians in New Orleans, Louisiana and has been a leading voice on the New Orleans music scene since 2009, when she was awarded “Best Emerging Artist” by the Big Easy Association. She has since performed major clubs and festivals across the United States and abroad, and leads three bands of her own that range from traditional New Orleans jazz (Sidewalk Strutters) to contemporary jazz and world music (Musical Playground) to experimental electronic art-rock (Hildegard).

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. Vanity Fair Magazine just listed Sasha as one of the top jazz musicians in the world and December 2015 issue of Downbeat Magazine named Sasha among the most innovative musicians coming out of New Orleans to date.

Wendell Brunious, born in New Orleans in 1954, is a member of a prominent musical family in the city called also The Big Easy. Wendell´s father, John Brunious, played trumpet and piano, and arranged for Billy Eckstein and Cab Calloway, among others. Wendell´s uncle, Willie Santiago, was one of the first guitar players recorded, and at one time worked with the legendary Buddy Bolden.

Brunious grew up in New Orleans playing trumpet and singing, and did his first recording when he was only 9 years old. Since then, he has performed with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (a stint that lasted more than 23 years), the Olympia Brass Band, the Tuxedo Brass Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band; Wynton Marsalis, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Bob Haggard, Harry Connick, Jr.

Ocie Davis (drummer) is an accomplished musician, educator and composer. He has also had the distinction of being recognized as a Jazz All-Star by New Orleans Magazine and The Ocie Davis Trio was chosen as “Best Jazz Group” in Charlotte by Charlotte Magazine’s “Best of the Best” 2011. Ocie has traveled around the world performing at festivals and venues with some of the most influential figures in jazz. Some of the most notable musicians he has played with include Ellis Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Christian Scott, Nicolas Payton and Donald Harrison, who called Ocie one of the premiere drummers in jazz. Ocie also currently serves as the Artistic Director of Jazz Arts Initiative (JAI).