Suite by Cassie Watson Francillon and Sasha Masakowski

The idea began in the spring of 2022. It was the week of Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Cassie, charged by live activations, envisioned doing a pop-up set at her neighborhood record store, Domino Records on historic Bayou Road. She'd only seen records spun there, but the idea of setting up a live in-store harp set propelled her to action: she called up Lisa Giordano, local curator and resident DJ of the shop, to see if they'd be into hosting it.

Upon receiving a yes, Cassie called Sasha, whose innovative sound design she'd long admired and proposed an impromptu collab. A few hours later, Sasha showed up at the shop with her full electronic set-up and an open mind, and the two performed an original set of fresh-swoon, dreamstate-bass, dynamic and lush sonic landscapes for a packed house of community members and notable musicians.

Over the course of the next two years, the duo proceeded to hone their project, recording their full-length album: 𝙎𝙐𝙄𝙏𝙀. Sparks of creation, minimal elements, synth bass, strong lullabies, formidable harp tones and groove create an album reflecting the grit, vision and full command of the pair.

The album is mixed and co-produced by Nick Hook (Run the Jewels, Lido Pimienta) and mastered by Joe LaPorta (David Bowie, Emily Wells).

"She uses the harp to journey through genres, wielding true musical alchemy of the Black American experience by merging all things formal, formless and profane into an intensely soothing and disruptively holy encounter."
-D. Simpson

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