Let’s start with what would ordinarily be the fourth or fifth paragraph in a review of this kind: The version of Hoagy Carmichael’s “New Orleans” done here by veteran Pfister Holley Bendtsen and veteran piano accompanist Amasa Miller is simply magnificent—one of the most moving versions of this classic that I have yet heard. In the sparse liner notes (mostly giving thanks to their supporters), Bendtsen indicates that she recently learned the song. It surely was worth the effort. She is a songwriter as well as a performer (“L’Aissez Faire” is one of her better known efforts) and it’s true that what’s missing from this CD is a Holley Bendtsen original. But “New Orleans” is certainly compensation for that omission.

“This above all. To thine own concept be true” may be poor Shakespeare, but it’s a reasonably accurate description of what happens on this CD. The group has had a number of personnel changes during its lengthy career, but it is still devoted primarily to doing “covers” of Boswell Sisters classics, both on record and at its live performances. The Pfisters have been around now for 29 years—roughly double the time that the Boswells performed as a group in the ’20s and ’30s. Still, 11 of the 14 cuts on this latest effort are based on recordings by the Boswells.

That includes some pretty good material. “Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane,” “When I Take My Sugar to Tea,” “Mood Indigo” and the title number are among the songs recorded here and provide a pretty fair representation of just what the Pfisters do. So if you’ve never before heard the Pfisters or the Boswells, for that matter, this is an excellent introduction to both. The Pfisters are not the only group based on the Boswells singing today—there’s a pretty good outfit in Prague—but the Pfisters are after all from the same home town as the originals and we’re pretty lucky to have them.