Shout, Sister, Shout! The Boswell Sisters of New Orleans
Grades 7–9
Over the course of four lessons, students will explore the life and music of the Boswell Sisters and the lasting contributions these pioneers made to American musical culture. Raised in New Orleans, where they received formal lessons in classical music while absorbing the sounds of the city’s jazz scene, the Boswell Sisters were among the first stars of radio’s golden age, selling out shows nationally and internationally and recording with the biggest names of the 1920s and ’30s. Their innovative approach to jazz vocal harmony influenced musicians for decades, from direct successors such as the Andrews Sisters and Ella Fitzgerald to country-music queens the Judds.
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