Jackie and Roy was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

vocal team consisting of husband and wife singer

Jackie Cain Jacqueline Ruth "Jackie" Cain (May 22, 1928 – September 15, 2014) was an American jazz singer known for her partnership with her husband in the duo Jackie and Roy. She was the sister-in-law of singer Irene Kral. Life and career Born in Milw ...

(1928-2014) and singer/pianist

Roy Kral Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

(1921-2002). They sang together for 56 years and made almost 40 albums. Kral's 2002 obituary in ''

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'' said: "Their voices had similar ranges but were an octave apart, creating unusual harmonies."

Career

They first joined forces in 1946, and in 1996 they celebrated their 50th anniversary as a vocal duo. Jackie and Roy's stint with

Charlie Ventura Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992) was an American tenor saxophonist and bandleader from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Career During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands o ...

's band in 1948 and 1949 brought them recognition; Lou Stein's "East of Suez" was an unusual feature for their voices. Shortly after leaving Ventura in June 1949, the couple married and worked together on a regular basis thereafter. Jackie and Roy had their own television show in Chicago in the early 1950s, worked in

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from 1957 to 1960, settled in New York City in 1963, and appeared on some television commercials. They recorded many performances for multiple record labels through the decades, and performed until Roy Kral died 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''.

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, 1955, reissued by Storyville, then by Black Lion as ''Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most'', 1987) * ''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) * ''In the Spotlight'' (ABC-Paramount, 1958) * ''Sweet and Low Down'' (CBS Mastersound, 1960) * ''Double Take'' ( Columbia, 1961) * ''Like Sing'' (Columbia, 1963) * ''By Jupiter & Girl Crazy'' ( Roulette, 1964; reissued by

Fresh Sound Fresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a jazz record label established in Barcelona, Spain, by Jordi Pujol. The label was initially founded as a reissue label. The catalog includes work by musicians both major and minor that was recorded be ...

) * ''Changes: Jackie & Roy'' ( Verve, 1966) * ''Lovesick'' (Verve, 1966) * ''Grass'' (

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

, 1969) * '' Time & Love'' ( CTI, 1972) * '' A Wilder Alias'' (CTI, 1974) * ''Concerts by the Sea'' (Studio 7, 1976) * ''Echoes'' (1976, not issued until 2007 on Jazzed Media) * ''Star Sounds'' (

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, 1979) * ''East of Suez'' (Concord, 1980) * ''Sondheim'' (

Red Baron Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, 1982) * ''High Standards'' (Concord, 1982) * ''We've Got It: The Music of Cy Coleman'' (

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discover ...

, 1984) * ''Bogie'' (

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

, 1986) * ''One More Rose: A Tribute to Alan Jay Lerner'' (

Audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

, 1987) * ''Full Circle'' (

Contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

, 1988; reissued by Fantasy, 1992) * ''An Alec Wilder Collection'' (Audiophile, 1990) * ''Forever'' ( MusicMasters, 1995) * ''The Beautiful Sea: Songs of Sun, Sand & Sea'' ( DRG, 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackie And Roy American jazz ensembles Vocal jazz ensembles Scat singers Swing ensembles Post-bop ensembles Vocalese singers Smooth jazz ensembles Cool jazz ensembles Columbia Records artists ABC Records artists Verve Records artists Red Baron Records artists Concord Records artists CTI Records artists American musical duos Male–female musical duos