Indiana Alumni Magazine
Together or Individually, Caswell Sisters Can Really Jazz Things Up
By Ryan Whirty
SISTER ACT — Sara, left, and Rachel Caswell share a magical musical bond. Listen to full-length music selections from the Caswell sisters.
Sometimes, when IU jazz studies professor David Baker watches Rachel and Sara Caswell perform together, he sees something special happen between the two sisters. Sometimes, says Baker, a musical spark that almost defies explanation will flash between Rachel, BM'95, a jazz vocalist, and Sara, BM'00, ArtD'02, who specializes in jazz violin.
"One of them will initiate something," says Baker, BME'54, MME'55, a world-renowned cellist and jazz educator, "and the other manages, through some mystical, magical way, to arrive at the same point as her sister."
It's that type of magic between Rachel and Sara that has amazed Baker ever since he first came in contact with the sisters, whose father, Austin, taught alongside Baker in the IU School of Music and is now a professor emeritus.
Baker says he's worked with both Rachel and Sara since the sisters were very young and now considers them, along with Austin and their mother, Judith, part of his extended family. The familial bond, Baker says, has been a big factor in the development of the siblings' jazz talent.
"There are some innate things that come from being together, from sharing the same parental guidance, from having the same experiences and the same teachers, that they do instinctively, that seem to be transmitted almost psychically between them," Baker says.
The sisters agree, saying their connection has been something special.
"We support each other, and we inspire each other," Sara says. "We use it as a way to build off each other."
Adds Rachel: "We each have different things that we're strong at, but I think if we didn't have this partnership, neither of us would be as strong a musician as we are."
But that doesn't mean the sisters haven't found success individually. Rachel, who's especially adept at scatting and interpreting jazz classics, has taken the stage with Baker's celebrated IU Jazz Ensemble, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, John Blake Jr., Ingrid Jensen, Curtis Fuller, and the Billy Taylor Trio. She's appeared at numerous jazz festivals, and in 1998 she received a master's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In July, Rachel released her debut CD, Some Other Time. And she's also proficient in cello.
Sara, meanwhile, released her debut album, First Song, on Double-Time Records. In addition to her playing, Sara also wrote two of the tracks on the CD. She's won multiple student awards from DownBeat, one of the jazz industry's oldest and most respected magazines, and in 2001, she appeared at Carnegie Hall with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops Allstars. Sara has also performed with such jazz luminaries as Charlie Byrd, John Clayton, Claude Williams, John Blake Jr., and Ingrid Jensen. And, by the way, she's also an accomplished classical violinist.
The sisters say their mother nurtured their musical talent virtually from the cradle. Says Rachel: "She's a pretty powerful force." Judith Caswell possesses a doctorate in musicology, but the sisters say their mother decided to stay at home with them. Sara says that as a child, she sat side by side with her mother at the piano as Judith showed her how to play. In addition, when Sara started playing violin, Judith "just plucked along with me to show me that I wasn't doing it alone. She said, 'I'm going to learn right along with my kid.'"
Rachel recalls how Judith would join her daughters to play as a trio, something that "was part of our daily routine." Eventually, Sara says, the sisters were so musically attached to Judith that music "was not only a form of entertainment and self-fulfillment, but a way of communicating with people."
The sisters also stress that their father played an equally large role in their development. He always listened in on their practice sessions and attended practically all of their concerts. Says Sara: "He was the best audience member you could ask for."
Such strong connections remain firm today, but they will also be firmly tested this coming fall, when Sara, 26, heads to New York to start grad school. She's considering the Manhattan School of Music or NYU. Sara says that while she loves Bloomington and savors the jazz scene there, she wants to immerse herself in the Big Apple's world-famous jazz culture.
"At this point, I feel the need to really reach my full potential as a musician, and I want to surround myself with people who are better than me," she says.
Sara says she views her imminent departure "not as a separation, but as an opportunity to make myself a better musician… and ultimately it will make us better as a unit. I see it as a huge opportunity."
Rachel, 30, approaches the subject a little more cautiously. "I'm going to miss her a lot," she says dourly. She looks at her sister for a moment and bursts into laughter. "I think it's a bigger issue with me," she says as she places her head on Sara's shoulder, an action that draws a wide smile from the younger sister. In the end, Rachel says, the separation "will probably be positive for us."
And besides, both sisters note, they made it through the separation when Rachel was in Boston. They add that they will continue to perform together whenever possible. As Sara says, "The distance isn't that great."
A connection that stays
strong despite a thousand miles
distance? That, indeed, is a
magical force. 
Whirty, BAJ’95, is a graduate student in journalism at IUB and a freelance writer. To hear music by the Caswell sisters, go to www.alumni.indiana.edu/magazine/issues/200403/caswells-music.shtml.