Sara Caswell

Sara Caswell is an American jazz violinist, known for her work as a solo artist and as a collaborator in 9 Horses and the bands of Esperanza Spalding, and David Krakauer. Born into a musical family in Bloomington, Indiana, Caswell studied classical violin with Josef Gingold, but from an early age was also taken with jazz, and learned from famed pedagogue David Baker, along with violinist John Blake and trumpeter Patrick Harbison. After finishing her degrees at Indiana University and Manhattan School of Music, Caswell moved to New York full-time in the early 2000s at the behest of New York Pops conductor Skitch Henderson, where she still resides. While there, she formed a jazz quartet (featuring guitarist Jesse Lewis, bassist Ike Sturm, and drummer Jared Schonig) and continues to co-lead an ensemble with her sister, vocalist Rachel Caswell. She is currently an instructor at Manhattan School of Music and Berklee College of Music. In 2010, Caswell began performing with Esperanza Spalding's Chamber Music Society, an ensemble featuring rhythm section and string trio, and was on tour promoting the Chamber Music Society recording when Spalding won a surprise victory in the Grammy Awards Best New Artist category. Her work on Roseanna Vitro's album The Music of Randy Newman was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 2011 in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category. In 2013, she co-founded the ensemble 9 Horses with mandolinist Joseph Brent and bassist Shawn Conley. Their debut album, Perfectest Herald, was released on Sunnyside Records in October 2015. Caswell was recognized as a 'Rising Star' in both the 2013 and 2014 DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll and as one of the top jazz violinists in both the 2011 and 2012 JazzTimes Readers’ Poll. Internationally renowned fiddler Mark O'Connor has said of her, "Most good violinists will never experience what Sara creates with her instrument. It is beautifully refined emotion that lifts the spirit... Jazz violin needs a universal ambassador... a player who can pick up where the last generation left off. Sara Caswell is well on her way to extending that tradition to touch new audiences.” Caswell plays a violin by Stefano Scarampella, and a Hardanger d'amore made for her in 2013 by Salve Håkedal.

Solo

• First Song (Double-Time, 2000)
• But Beautiful (Arbors, 2005)
• Alive in the Singing Air - Caswell Sisters - (Turtle Ridge, 2014)

With 9 Horses

• Joe Brent & Sara Caswell (2013)
• Perfectest Herald (Sunnyside, 2015)

With others

• Monika Herzig - Melody Without Words (2000)
• Skitch Henderson - Swinging With Strings (2001)
• Skitch Henderson - Legends (2003)
• Jessica Elbert - Aniage (2006)
• Cynthia Sayer - Attractions (2007)
• Bucky Pizzarelli - So Hard to Forget (2008)
• Ike Sturm - Jazz Mass (2008)
• JaLaLa - The Old Mercer Magic! (2009)
• Oran Etkin - Kelenia (2009)
• Alan Ferber - Music for Nonet and Strings: Chamber Songs (2010)
• Krista Detor - Chocolate Paper Suites (2010)
• Nadje Noordhuis - Nadje Noordhuis (2010)
• Roseanna Vitro - The Music of Randy Newman (2011)
• Jack Wilkins - The Blue & Green Project (2011)
• Rose & the Nightingale - Spirit of the Garden (2012)
• Cynthia Sayer - Joyride (2013)
• Billy Martin - Wandering Music (2013)
• Roseanna Vitro - Clarity: Music of Clare Fischer (2013)
• Lauren Kinhan - Circle in a Square (2014)
• Kishi Bashi - String Quartet Live! (2015)

• Sara Caswell|Credits|AllMusic AllMusic