9 Horses

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9 Horses is a United States chamber jazz group from New York City. The band’s core members are mandolinist Joseph Brent, violinist Sara Caswell, and bassist Andrew Ryan. It all began when Brent and bassist Shawn Conley played together in Brent’s early project around 2010. Brent later formed a duo with Caswell, releasing an EP in 2013, and they added Conley to become a trio. They named the group after a Billy Collins poem, and after reaching the finals of a 2014 competition, they signed with Sunnyside Records and released their debut album, Perfectest Herald, in 2015. The recording features percussionist Ben Wittman, while live shows usually feature the trio or guest musicians such as Emily Hope Price or Ike Sturm.

In 2016 the group added Ryan and won the first prize in the inaugural 21CM Launch: Emerging Artists competition. Brent hails from Queens, Caswell from Bloomington, Indiana, and Ryan from Denver, Colorado. Brent has played with Regina Spektor, Caswell has worked with Esperanza Spalding and David Krakauer, and Ryan has performed with The Freewheel Trio and Kaia Kater.

All of 9 Horses’ music is written or arranged by Brent, blending improvised forms with classical chamber aesthetics and Brent’s indie rock influences. The centerpiece is the four-movement suite Perfectest Herald, which mixes rock, new music, Middle Eastern sounds, jazz, blues, and classical styles. One movement even plays with Elliott Smith’s discography backward and ends with a fugue.

In 2019 they released Blood From A Stone, an EP that explores electronic textures and cross-genre improvisation. It helped set the stage for their 2021 double LP Omegah, which many outlets named among the year’s best. Critics praised its adventurous mix of timbres and styles.

Adhyâropa Records, founded in 2021 by Brent and Ryan, releases 9 Horses’ music and work by other artists across jazz, Americana, classical, and world music. The label’s logo was designed by Emily Hope Price. The name Adhyâropa refers to the Hindu idea of overlaying the imaginary onto the real.