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Caswell Sisters Alive in the Singing Air on WEMU

It is undeniable: siblings sound great together making music whether sisters, brothers or both.  Some legendary examples are The Carter Family, The Haden Family, Phil & Buddy Guy, The Avett Brothers, The Isley Brothers, The Andrews Sisters, The Jackson 5, The Everly Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Katia & Marielle Labèque, The Allman Brothers, The Clayton Brothers and The Pointer Sisters. 

This morning we added another set ofsisters to the sibling recording category:  Sara and Rachel Caswell.

Their debut CD Alive In The Singing Air  received its WEMU premiere this morning on 89.1 Jazz.  At first one is attracted to the novelty of the group and the unique instrumentation: violin and voice, but just one listen convinces you that this is music far beyond novelty.  This is serious music sung and played with deep love, respect and joy.  Sara Caswell is no stranger to WEMU listeners.  She has recorded two previous CDs as a leader and has recorded with Roseanna Vitro and Esperanza Spalding.  It is Rachel Caswell who is a welcome new voice.  Her supple voice scats in and out of the lyrical lines plied by sister Sara.  Their debut CD has another reason for high recommendation: pianist Fred Hersch, one of today’s finest pianists to work with singers contributed arrangements and was their co-producer.   For Women’s History Month, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share new music from these two up-and-coming musical voices as well as the sister team of Canadians Christine and Ingrid Jensen.

Linda Yohn simply cannot remember a day in her life that was not filled with music. Her early life was full of changes as the daughter of a well-respected cancer research scientist who moved his family about, but one thing was constant: the love of music instilled by her mother. So, when it seemed life was too hard to bear, young Linda would listen to her radio, play her guitar, dance her heart out and sing at the top of her lungs. So, it isn’t so strange that “older” Linda still does all those things!
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