Jackie and Roy

Jackie and Roy was a jazz vocal team consisting of husband and wife singer Jackie Cain (born May 22, 1928 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and singer/pianist Roy Kral (born October 10, 1921 in Cicero, Illinois; died August 2, 2002 in Montclair, New Jersey). They first joined forces in 1946, and in 1996 they celebrated their 50th anniversary as a vocal duo. Jackie and Roy were with Charlie Ventura's band during 1948-1949 (which gave them a great deal of recognition); Lou Stein's "East of Suez" was an unusual feature for their voices. Shortly after leaving Ventura in June 1949, they were married and worked together on a regular basis ever since. Jackie and Roy had their own television show in Chicago in the early '50s, worked in Las Vegas during 1957-1960, settled in New York in 1963, and appeared on some television commercials. They recorded many spirited jazz performances for a variety of labels through the decades, and performed into the 2000s until Kral's death in August 2002. Fairly early in their career, Jackie and Roy were befriended by composer Alec Wilder, who wrote the liner notes for one of their earliest albums, "Jackie Cain and Roy Kral" (1955). They had always favored Wilder's songs and, ten years after his death, paid tribute by recording an entire album of them, "An Alec Wilder Collection".

elected Discography

*"Jackie and Roy: Jazz Classics by Charlie Ventura's Band" (1948; reissue on CD, 2005, of earlier 78s)
*"Jackie Cain and Roy Kral" (Trio Records, 1955 [PA-6128] ; reissued by Storyville, then by Black Lion as "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most", 1987) (with Barney Kessel, Red Mitchell, Shelly Manne)
*"Sing Baby Sing!" (Storyville, 1956)
*"The Glory of Love" (MCA, 1956)
*"Jackie and Roy" (Brunswick, 1957)
*"Bits and Pieces" (ABC-Paramount, 1957)
*"Free and Easy" (ABC-Paramount, 1957) (with Bill Holman's Orchestra)
*"In the Spotlight" (ABC-Paramount, 1958)
*"Sweet and Low Down" (CBS Mastersound, 1960)
*"Double Take" (Columbia Records, 1961)
*"Like Sing" (Columbia, 1963)
*"By Jupiter & Girl Crazy" (Roulette, 1964; reissued by Fresh Sound)
*"Changes: Jackie & Roy" (Verve, 1966)
*"Lovesick" (Verve, 1966)
*"Grass" (Capitol, 1969)
*"Time & Love" (CTI, 1972)
*"A Wilder Alias" (CTI, 1974)
*"Howard Rumsey Presents: Concerts by the Sea" (Studio 7, 1976) (live)
*"Echoes" (1976, not issued until 2007 on Jazzed Media) (live; more material from Howard Rumsey's Concerts by the Sea)
*"Star Sounds" (Concord, 1979) (with Joe Beck)
*"East of Suez" (Concord, 1980)
*"A Stephen Sondheim Collection" (Finesse, 1982)
*"High Standards" (Concord, 1982)
*"We've Got It: The Music Of Cy Coleman" (Discovery, 1984)
*"Bogie" (Fantasy Records, 1986)
*"One More Rose: A Tribute to Alan Jay Lerner" (Audiophile, 1987)
*"Full Circle" (Contemporary, 1988; reissued by Fantasy, 1992)
*"An Alec Wilder Collection" (Audiophile, 1990)
*"Forever" (MusicMasters, 1995)
*"The ABC Paramount Years" (1997; compilation of earlier material)
*"The Beautiful Sea: Songs of Sun, Sand & Sea" (DRG, 1999)