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Boswell Sisters

The Boswell Sisters
Boswell Sisters 1931.jpg
From left: "Vet", Connie and Martha in 1931
Background information
Born Martha: (1905-06-09)June 9, 1905
Connee: (1907-12-03)December 3, 1907
Helvetia: (1911-05-20)May 20, 1911
Origin New Orleans, United States
Died Martha: July 2, 1958(1958-07-02) (aged 53)
Connee: October 11, 1976(1976-10-11) (aged 68)
Helvetia: November 12, 1988(1988-11-12) (aged 77)
Genres Vocal jazz
Years active 1925–1936
Labels Victor, Okeh, Brunswick, Decca
Website http://www.bozzies.com/
Past members Martha Boswell
Connee Boswell
Helvetia Boswell

The Boswell Sisters were a close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell Lloyd (June 9, 1905 – July 2, 1958), Connee Boswell (original name Connie, December 3, 1907 – October 11, 1976), and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell (May 20, 1911 – November 12, 1988), noted for intricate harmonies and rhythmic experimentation. They attained national prominence in the United States in the 1930s.

The sisters were raised in a middle-class family at 3937 Camp Street in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. Martha and Connie were born in Kansas City, Missouri. Helvetia was born in Birmingham, Alabama. (Connee's name was originally spelled Connie until she changed it in the 1940s.) Born to a former vaudevillian, Clyde “A. C.” Boswell, and his music-loving wife, Meldania, the sisters—along with their 14-year-old brother Clyde Jr. ("Clydie")—landed in New Orleans as children, in 1914. Martha, Connie, and Vet studied classical piano, cello, and violin, respectively, under the tutelage of Tulane University professor Otto Finck. They performed their classical repertoire in local recitals, often as a trio, but the city’s jazz scene swiftly won them over, personally and professionally. “We studied classical music . . . and were being prepared for the stage and a concert tour throughout the United States, but the saxophone got us,” Martha said in a 1925 interview with the Shreveport Times.

In addition to providing the young Boswells with formal, classical musical education, Meldania Boswell took her children regularly to see the leading African-American performers of the day at the Lyric Theatre. There, young Connie heard Mamie Smith, whose "Crazy Blues" (1920), the first blues record performed by an African American, was a hit. Connie would later imitate Smith's style on the Boswells' first record, "I'm Gonna Cry (Cryin' Blues)," before settling into her own vocal style. In interviews, the sisters recalled driving around New Orleans listening for new and interesting sounds, which they often found outside African-American churches and barrooms.


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Wikipedia

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