[2] The trio's "unique singing style and ground-breaking arrangements fused 'blackness' and 'whiteness' in music," and their collaborations with "the preeminent white swing musicians of their day—the Dorsey Brothers, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, Artie Shaw, Victor Young, Bunny Berigan—had a profound effect on the development of the big band sound in the 1930s.

"[2] [3] When assessing their legacy, scholars claim the Boswell Sisters "made 'real' jazz commercially viable, destigmatizing the music and opening its appreciation to the wider American public.

Their parents were manager and former vaudevillian from Indiana Alfred Clyde "A. C." Boswell (1877—1944) and his music-loving wife Meldania George Foore (1871—1947), originally from Missouri.

Martha, Connie, and Vet studied classical piano, cello, and violin, respectively, under the tutelage of Tulane University professor Otto Finck.

[6] 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.

Connie's other primary vocal influence was the legendary Italian opera tenor Enrico Caruso, whom she saw perform at the Athenaeum in New Orleans: "I used to sit and listen and be amazed by his breathing.

This arrangement served to disguise Connie's inability to walk, or stand for any length of time, a condition whose source has never been fully confirmed.

One theory holds that Meldania crafted the accident story in order to spare her daughter the stigma attached to the disease.

[23][24] Another New Orleans friend by the name of Bobby Burns Berman had opened a restaurant in Hollywood, and invited the Boswell trio to perform at "B.B.B.

The Boswells began to get "side-miking" work in Hollywood film musicals at this time,[13][25] singing for other performers in "They Learned About Women" (MGM), "Let's Go Places" (Fox), and "Under Montana Skies" (Tiffany Productions).

[30] The Boswells received numerous mentions in various radio/stage/screen magazines of the period: However, the trio's unique approach to arrangements, which often involved reworking melodies and lyrics, altering tempos and keys in mid-song, as well as their improvisational style, did not always garner universal acclamation.

[33] In their inaugural year of radio broadcasting in California, "station employers received letters of opprobrium from outraged listeners voicing disapproval of the sisters' new and unusual arranging and singing styles.

Normally the sisters would sing into a large carbon microphone from a distance of about three feet, but on one particular day there was a problem: Connie was sick with a head cold and couldn't project her voice as usual.

[37] For their Brunswick recordings, "the Boswells took greater liberties, regularly changing style, tempi, modality, lyrics, time signatures and voicings (both instrumental and vocal) to create unexpected textures and effects.

"[37] The sisters' reworking of melodies and rhythms of popular songs, and the participation of top New York jazz musicians (including the Dorsey Brothers, Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan, Fulton McGrath, Joe Venuti, Arthur Schutt, Eddie Lang, Joe Tarto, Mannie Klein, Chauncey Morehouse, Dick McDonough, and Carl Kress), made these recordings unlike any others.

Some of the sessions with Dorsey Brothers' band musicians were notable in having the young Glenn Miller writing instrumental arrangements for his bandmates from Connie’s dictation.

[c] But years later, both Connie and Vet spoke with pride about the trio's first session with top-flight New York studio accompanists, after which the musicians stood up to applaud and cheer.

[41] Young Ella Fitzgerald loved the Boswell Sisters and in particular idolized Connie, after whose singing style she initially patterned her own.

Approximately one month earlier, Martha Boswell had married Major George L. Lloyd of Britain's Royal Air Force.

[43] and a flying ace of the Great War[44] Connie Boswell continued to have a successful solo career as a singer for Decca.

[45] Connie and fellow singer Eddie Cantor "were among the original founders of the March of Dimes, and from 1960 on her appearances were limited to benefits for hospitals and other institutions active on behalf of the handicapped".

"[47] Allowing one another the freedom to choose a different pitch range, in the moment, and basically switch places, became a hallmark of their harmony style.

The effect was achieved by inserting “ggled” (pronounced as "guhl-d") after the vowel of a word, with the chosen rhythm determining where the accent should be placed.

Both Martha and Connie developed the lower parts of their natural ranges, and the trio sang mostly in their throats and chests rather than relying on the fashionable nasally intonations favored by most white female singers of the day.

In 2014, Vet's daughter and granddaughter published The Boswell Legacy, the first comprehensive book on the life and times of the influential trio.

In his review of the album, Robert Christgau wrote of the Sisters: "They were so prolific and original that except for Billie [Holiday] and their fan Ella they were not just the premier jazz singers of the decade, rewriting melodies at will, but pop stars with a dozen top 10 singles.