The duo of
Roy Kral and
Jackie Cain (1928) were particularly popular in the '40s and '50s. They mixed vocalese, humor and show business patter, with
Cain also being a good ballad and interpretative vocalist.
Kral met
Cain in Chicago while he was playing piano in a quartet. They worked with
Charlie Ventura in the late '40s, with
Kral doubling as
Ventura's pianist, and also supplying some arrangements. The duo left
Ventura, married in 1949 and began a sextet. They had their own television show temporarily in Chicago in the early '50s. They played with
Ventura again briefly in the mid-'50s, then became a successful nightclub act in the late '50s and early '60s, playing in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. They moved to New York in 1963.
Kral penned several commercials featuring the duo in the '60s, among them a famous Plymouth ad, and they've continued recording and performing into the '90s. They've recorded for Brunswick, Storyville, ABC-Paramount, Columbia, Audiophile, Discovery, Fantasy, Verve, CTI, and Concord. They have several dates available on CD.
Kral died of congestive heart failure on August 6, 2002 at his home in Montclair, New Jersey. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide
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