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| New Book: The Boswell Legacy By Kyla Titus with Chica Boswell Minnerly "…the Boswells constitute a crucial link between Armstrong and Fitzgerald in the development of vocal improvisation." –Will Friedwald, The Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2014 The iconic "Divine Miss M", Bette Midler, released her first album in eight years (Nov. 4, 2014), It's The Girls, anchoring it with The Boswell Sisters recording of the same name. Bette says The Boswells were the first girl group record she ever owned and talked about the Boswell Sisters on a recent Tonight Show episode with Jimmy Fallon: http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/segments/17906 *** Steely Dan's Donald Fagen begins his recent bestselling memoir/criticism Eminent Hipsters with his lead chapter as an unabashed ode to one of his earliest musical inspirations The Boswells Sisters: Martha, Connie and Vet. *** In October 2014, Kyla Titus invited Boswell Sisters tribute groups from as far away as Spain, Israel, Australia and Vancouver to New Orleans to a cultural and musical exchange symposium celebrating the first major Boswell Sisters exhibit held at The Historic New Orleans Collection. The events included a sold-out concert at Louisiana State Museum's Old U.S. Mint and performances around the city by many of the attending artists. *** The renowned Joshua Tree Productions readies a PBS documentary, The Boswell Sisters: Close Harmony set to air in 2014: http://www.boswellsfilm.com/ The music world is clearly on the cusp of a revolutionary reexamination of the monumental contribution of The Boswell Sisters—Martha, Connie and Vet- to American popular song. But who exactly were these women, extraordinary performers all, and why had they so completely disappeared from musical consciousness and from public view? This is a story that begs telling, a mystery that has long baffled lovers of both harmonic singing and popular song. In THE BOSWELL LEGACY, Vet Boswell's granddaughter, Kyla Titus, delves deep the voluminous family archives to tell the story of a critically missing piece in American Musical History. The Boswells, sisters Martha, Connie and Vet, were from 1931 until their breakup in 1936 simply the hottest singers, among the most popular entertainers in America. Classically-trained multi-instrumentalists, influenced by roots of Jazzy 1920s New Orleans, they created seamlessly blended harmonic sound, complete with their own astounding arrangements, that influenced everyone from young Glenn Miller to the Dorsey Brothers to Ella Fitzgerald, who credits middle sister Connie, with being the one singer who influenced her style. Titus tells the story of the sisters' early beginnings in New Orleans, their meteoric rise to success that fortified the beginnings of early national radio, the complex relationships with everyone from Decca's mercurial Jack Kapp to their friend and supporter Bing Crosby, to the managers who purported to guide them and the men who loved them. Titus gives as well a deep understanding of the complex family dynamics that both fostered the immense talents of the sisters and led to their eventual breakup. Moreover, she explores the intertwined relationship of the sisters, united in helping middle sister Connie, paralyzed from the waist down since childhood, not just perform publicly, but simply move from place to place. THE BOSWELL LEGACY is rife with stories of the titans of early Jazz: Bing Crosby, Joe Tarto, Glenn Miller, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, a world that few women were permitted to enter at the time, but the Boswells were welcomed to simply due to their dazzling talents. There was no public acrimony, no finger pointing and no ugly press stories when the Boswells disbanded in 1936. That was the choice of the very private Boswell Sisters. But the real story of that break up, and its ramifications, are detailed in THE BOSWELL LEGACY. It is long past time for this missing piece of jazz and popular musical history to come forward. Bette Midler and others feel certain the roots of all girl harmonic singing groups begin with the otherworldly inimitable Boswell Sound. It is also long past time to listen to the music, and to discover the true story of the remarkable Boswell Sisters of New Orleans. THE BOSWELL LEGACY By Kyla Titus with Chica Boswell Minnerly Publication date: Oct. 9, 2014 Publisher: Vet Boswell Family Collection, LLC ISBN: 9781502350916 write your comments about the article :: © 2014 Jazz News :: home page |