Brian Marsella & Sae Hashimoto

The spellbinding partnership between pianist Brian Marsella and percussionist Sae Hashimoto is a testament to the enduring creative world John Zorn has built in New York. After moving from Philadelphia in 1998 to attend The New School, Marsella enlisted with Cyro Baptista’s band Beat the Donkey, which led to an early encounter with Zorn. In the last two decades, they have recorded more than 25 albums together, and Marsella now teaches Zorn’s Cobra and Masada at The New School. Hashimoto, meanwhile, moved to New York from Osaka in 2012 to attend Juilliard. In the last dozen years, she has become one of the city’s percussion standouts, not only recording and performing in Yarn/Wire but also premiering multiple Zorn works on vibraphone with lineups that have included the likes of Ches Smith and Tyshawn Sorey.

 

In Fall 2020, amid pandemic restrictions, Zorn asked Marsella and Hashimoto if they would work remotely from their own studios to make a record with Ikue Mori, the singular electronics innovator. The solo sessions and file-sharing led to 2021’s Archipelago X, a fascinating mix of luminous drones and jubilant cacophonies, scrambled samples and percussive dream states. Marsella and Hashimoto have since continued the relationship as an in-person duo, including a lauded 2023 performance at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre. The pair have been writing and recording a debut album, and, given how much they perform in so many other contexts, this duo set outside of New York is a rare treat.