While rarely acknowledged these days, the Boswell Sisters (Connie, Martha and “Vet”) essentially pioneered jazz vocals in terms of both swing and harmony. Artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby to today’s Manhattan Transfer have been highly influenced by the Sisters’ intricate vocal workouts. This 2 cd set will get your head swirling by the swinging complexity of the singers as well as the incessantly relentless swing pulse that gets your toes tapping.
The sessions usually have the ladies accompanied by the top “jazz” artists of the day, ranging from Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Bunny Berigan, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Dick McDonough to just name a handful.
As far as their vocal capabilities, just get a feel for their mix of tempo and harmonic changes on pieces such as “Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia” where the ladies do a vocalese photo finish or a maniacal “Heebie Jeebies.” The ladies veer in and out of the lead like Whack-a-doodles on the dramatic “Forty Second Street” while sounding gorgeously nostalgic, almost making you smell the honeysuckle on “Coffee In The Morning” or “The Object Of My Affection.” They make the human voice reflect like various colors of a prism while the rivet like a drill during “Dinah” and “The Darktown Strutters Ball.” If you want some of the best sing-along stuff ever recorded, get this absolutely essential two disc set. You’ll get an earful!