Sasha Berliner
Denmark (2023)
Denmark (2023)
Background information
Born (1998-06-20) June 20, 1998 (age 25)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
GenresJazz, avant-garde jazz, experimental, rock
Occupation(s)Composer, musician, educator
Instrument(s)Vibraphone, drums
Years active2015-present
LabelsJMI
Websitesashaberlinermusic.com
Sasha Berliner (2023) in Aarhus, Denmark
Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson

Sasha Berliner (born June 20, 1998) is an American vibraphonist and composer.[1][2][3]

Early life

Berliner was born in San Francisco[4] and grew up in the Bay Area, where she began playing drums at age 8.[5] In her earlier years, Berliner was more focused on rock and indie music, and she participated in the San Francisco Rock Project (formerly the San Francisco School of Rock) along with her entire family: her father, John Berliner, is a bassist[3] on the school's board of directors;[6] her mother, Sheri Evans, was the school office manager;[7] and Berliner and her brother, Cole, played in the school's House Band for a number of years.[7]

In 2011, at the age of 13, Berliner auditioned for the Oakland School for the Arts, but was told they already had too many drummers.[1] The school asked if she would be interested in playing the vibraphone instead, and she agreed without knowing what instrument it was.[1] Despite her initial confusion, she found the vibraphone spoke to her investments in harmony and melody,[1] and she quickly became invested in pursuing it professionally,[3] choosing the school's jazz track.[8] As a teenager, she continued working in a number of genres as a singer and multi-instrumentalist, and in 2013 arranged a version of Beck's "Please Leave a Light On When You Go" from the Song Reader for the San Francisco Rock Project;[9] she also ran a fashion blog, in part inspired by her mother's work running a boutique in San Francisco.[3]

Education and career

Berliner joined the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars as a junior,[5] and recorded her EP Gold at age 16.[2] She graduated from high school in 2016 and moved to New York City to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.[10][11]

In 2017, she attended the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, then led by composers Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey;[12] Sorey invited Berliner to join his newest sextet the following year.[13][14]

Berliner says the higher-than-usual number of women musicians at Banff and the women faculty's increased transparency about harassment inspired her to speak out about gender-based mistreatment.[2] Shortly after returning from the workshop, in late September of 2017, she published an open letter on her experiences and observations of sexism in the jazz community.[15] The letter began spreading rapidly just a few weeks before the #MeToo hashtag went viral, leading to heightened media attention to issues of workplace harassment and assault.[16]

Then a 19-year-old college sophomore, Berliner was invited to perform as "one of the youngest bandleaders" at the 2018 NYC Winter Jazzfest,[17] and in the following months, her letter received wide coverage in publications including The New York Times[18] Hot House Jazz Magazine, and PBS NewsHour.[19] SFJAZZ Magazine named her one of "10 Rising Women Instrumentalists You Should Know",[20] ARTS ATL said the letter had "made her one of the most talked-about jazz musicians associated with the #MeToo movement",[21] and in September 2018, she was on the cover of Tom Tom Magazine, the subject of a feature titled "Activist Vibes".[22]

In January 2019, she was announced as the LetterOne "Rising Stars" Jazz Award's North American recipient for 2018;[23] the prize was a seven-city tour of North America, including dates at jazz festivals in Canada and the United States.[24][25] Later in 2019, she signed as an artist with Vater Percussion and Marimba One[26] and released her first full-length record, Azalea.[8]

Berliner has played with artists including Nicholas Payton, Quincy Davis,[27] and Warren Wolf,[28] as well as solo and in her own groups.[29] She was named in DownBeat's Critics Poll in 2020 (as "Rising Star" vibraphonist)[30] and 2022,[31] and the DownBeat Readers Poll for 2019,[32] 2020,[33] 2021,[34] and 2022.[35]

She released her second full-length, Onyx, in 2022 with J.M.I. Recordings.[36]

Discography

As leader

Year Artist Title Label Additional Personnel
2015 Sasha Berliner Gold[37] self-released
2019 Sasha Berliner Azalea[8] self-released Morgan Guerin, Kanoa Mendenhall, Chris McCarthy, Jongkuk Kim, Lucas Saur, Leonor Falcon Pasquali, Tippan Phasuk
2022 Sasha Berliner Onyx[36] J.M.I. Recordings Marcus Gilmore, Burniss Travis II, James Francies, Jaleel Shaw, Julius Rodriguez, Thana Alexa

As side person

Year Artist Title Label
2020 Tyshawn Sorey Unfiltered[38] self-released

References

  1. ^ a b c d Grella, George (March 2022). "Artist Feature: Sasha Berliner" (PDF). The New York City Jazz Record. p. 7. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Activist Vibes: Sasha Berliner". Tom Tom Magazine. September 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Rentner, Simon (5 February 2021). "The Checkout: Sasha Berliner on Her Music, Her Vibraphone Heroes and a Call to Social Justice". WBGO. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Artists On The Rise: Sasha Berliner Quartet". SFjazz. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Sasha Berliner: SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Alumna". SFJAZZ.org. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  6. ^ "BOARD". San Francisco Rock Project. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b Langlois, Jessica (6 February 2013). "Raising Rock's Next Generation". East Bay Express. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b c O'Brien, Lily (10 September 2019). "Vibraphonist Sasha Berliner Finds Her Own Groove". JazzTimes. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Please Leave A Light On When You Go". SoundCloud. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  10. ^ Chinen, Nate (23 June 2022). "Hear a gemlike first single from 'Onyx,' the much-anticipated second album by Sasha Berliner". WBGO. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Sasha Berliner, Jazz and Contemporary Music '20, is Promoting Gender Equality in the Jazz Community". The New School. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Sasha Berliner". Stanford Jazz Workshop. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  13. ^ "12 Pop, Rock and Jazz Concerts to Check Out in N.Y.C. This Weekend". The New York Times. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Tabula Rasa: Tyshawn Sorey Speaks". Jazz Speaks. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  15. ^ Berliner, Sasha (21 September 2017). "An Open Letter to Ethan Iverson (And The Rest of Jazz Patriarchy)". Sasha Berliner Music. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  16. ^ Smartt, Nicole (20 December 2017). "Sexual Harassment In The Workplace In A #MeToo World". Forbes. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  17. ^ Weiner, Natalie (10 January 2018). "2018 Winter Jazzfest Marathon: 10 Must-See Performances". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  18. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (1 December 2017). "For Women in Jazz, a Year of Reckoning and Recognition". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  19. ^ Feliciano, Ivette (3 March 2018). "Female jazz musicians raise their voices against sexism". PBS. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  20. ^ Aceves, Rusty (7 March 2018). "10 Rising Women Instrumentalists You Should Know". SFJAZZ. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  21. ^ O'Neill, Gail (26 May 2018). "ARTS ATL's picks for the Atlanta Jazz Festival". ARTS ATL. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Tom Tom Magazine Issue 35: Marching". Tom Tom Magazine. September 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Winner North American Edition 2018". Rising Stars Jazz Award. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  24. ^ Tony Franquiz (January 11, 2019). "Percussionist Sasha Berliner Wins Seven-City Jazz Festival Tour". All About Jazz. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  25. ^ Bebco, Joe (8 January 2019). "Sasha Berliner wins Rising Star Award, Concerts Planned". SyncopatedTimes.com. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  26. ^ "Marimba One Artists: Sasha Berliner". Marimba One. 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  27. ^ "Quincy Davis Quintet". SmallsLIVE. 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  28. ^ Bennett, II, James (29 July 2021). "The History Of Jazz Is Still Being Written At This Year's Newport Jazz Festival". WGBH. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  29. ^ "Sasha Berliner Quartet". SmallsLIVE. 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  30. ^ Jones, Stephanie (10 September 2020). "Sparks Of Wonder, Discovery Propel Rising Stars". DownBeat. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  31. ^ "70th Annual Critics Poll: Complete Results" (PDF). DownBeat. August 2022. p. 45. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  32. ^ "84th Readers Poll: Complete Results" (PDF). DownBeat. December 2019. p. 51. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  33. ^ "85th Readers Poll: Complete Results" (PDF). DownBeat. December 2020. p. 37. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  34. ^ "86th Readers Poll: Complete Results". DownBeat. December 2021. p. 43. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  35. ^ "87th Readers Poll: Complete Results". DownBeat. December 2022. p. 54. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  36. ^ a b Johnson, Martin (12 August 2022). "Sasha Berliner: Onyx (JMI)". JazzTimes. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  37. ^ "Gold - Sasha Berliner". Musical reviews. All About Jazz. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  38. ^ Kaufman, Dave (22 April 2020). "Unfiltered: The Tyshawn Sorey Sextet At The Jazz Gallery". All About Jazz. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

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