Reviewed by Ray Smith, Friday 6th March 2015
Boswell And Beyond opened with a video projection offering a brief overview of the beginning of the singing career of the Boswell Sisters, Martha, Connee and Helvetia (Vet) Boswell. They became very popular in the late 1920s into the 1930s and were well known not only for their tight harmonies but also for their innovative and experimental approach to rhythm. There was no other group quite like them.
Kylie Ferreira, Louise Messenger and Valeska Laity, fronting a very well rehearsed jazz outfit, recreated the sound of the Boswell Sisters impeccably.
The show went well beyond an academic historical music research project though. The songs were perfectly reproduced, the backing musicians could have been transported by a time machine from 1935 New Orleans to 2015 Adelaide, the singers moved like the Boswell Sisters, interacted on stage like the Boswell Sisters, joked like the Boswell Sisters, they even made the signature 'muted trumpet' impressions through cupped hands. They were utterly believable and entrancing.
They led us chronologically through the development of the Boswell sound and the rise of this extraordinary trio, through songs, narration and via the video projector screen. We learned of
Louis Armstrong's admiration of them, of
Cab Calloway's attention to their work and their collaboration with the superstars of the day such as
Bing Crosby. The ensemble re-enacted a radio show featuring the Boswells and
Bing Crosby with great humour and, I suspect, an almost obsessive accuracy.
The three singers recently returned from highly acclaimed performances in New Orleans organised by the grand daughter of one of the original Boswell Sisters, which in itself speaks volumes. I feel sure that that was not their last performance there, as the reception they received in the birth place of this music begs a return visit.
This opening night of an all too brief Fringe season doubled as a launch for the group's CD, which sold like the proverbial hot cakes to an eager and excited audience. It was a fabulous and engaging show that deserves a larger and better dressed theatre than the quaint but rather limited Nexus.
This is quite obviously a labour of love from some very talented professional musicians and the audience simply wallowed gleefully in it. I joined them.
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