Masha J. Davey

“Give Me Funk or Give Me Death!” is a vibrant celebration of New Orleans’ musical history. From Congo Square’s hand drum rhythms to Mardi Gras brass bands and hip-hop shaking grooves on Rampart St., it’s a heart-moving tribute to Black-American culture that can only be experienced live!

Content Warning: Mild swearing. Mild depictions of violence and grief.

Masha J. Davey is a New Orleans bred pianist who specializes in composition and music-production. Her sound is rooted in her New Orleans Black-American musical upbringing. Her love of the “deep-pocket” rhythmic fusion of Afro-Caribbean & funk grooving genres, interspersed with the melodic soul of the Blues, is at the heart of her creations.

Growing up in New Orleans, Masha was exposed to the traditions of New Orleans musical culture and current pop musical trends. This instilled in her what it meant to push the boundaries of new ideas while honoring the history and the elders that came before her and paved the way forward. From the moment Masha first laid eyes on a piano, she was immediately hooked and gravitated to music like a magnet. It became well known amongst her friends and family that if you didn’t know where she was, you were sure to find her at a piano. From the age of six, Masha was in music lessons on guitar, at the age of nine she joined the school band on trumpet, as well as joining the middle school jazz band on piano. In high school, she attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts to further her studies in jazz and Black-American Music that greats such as Trombone Shorty and Wynton Marsalis attended as students. After high school, she was awarded a scholarship to double-major in sound-design and film-scoring at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee, she fell in love with record producing in her junior year and finally fulfilled her dream of producing, writing, composing, arranging, and playing in collaboration with her peers on her first EP “Into the Night”. She released her record in 2022, after the pandemic put a hold on her studies, but she is determined to continue her musical journey with a full debut album that is in pre-production and to be released in Fall 2025. Masha J. Davey is excited to keep exploring and sharing her musical journey, and has no inclination to slow down anytime soon. Her next project will feature a live 20-piece fusion band that will be a love-letter to her hometown of New Orleans and its people that have rooted her in her musical identity.