Jackie Cain

One singularly creepy "critical" philosophy attests that female musicians, especially singers, only get breaks because of their attractive looks. The career of Jackie Cain refutes this during its very first important scene. Cain was blonde, 18, and apparently extremely attractive. She had only recently graduated from high school in Milwaukee. The year was 1946, and the pretty lass wanted to be a jazz singer. A friend took her to the big town of Chicago and introduced her to Roy Kral, a pianist and arranger who was going places. He took a good look at her, but according to legend wasn't the least bit interested until he heard her sing. Cynics can sneer; career history can be rewritten and distorted, sure, especially when there are details concerning what might or might not have been going on inside someone's mind. At any rate, Cain and Kral liked something about each other, looks and/or music. The duo of Jackie & Roy became one of the most enduring combinations in jazz, beginning in the late '40s when the team began interacting as fellow members of intriguing saxophonist Charlie Ventura's band. The two continued working together, off and on, until Kral's death from congestive heart failure at the age of 80 in 2002. The following year Cain was still going strong, performing at an 85th birthday event for jazz pianist Marian McPartland that also featured greenhorn hitmaker Norah Jones. The appeal of Jackie & Roy was about voices, but more accurately about voicings. The two vocalists, who became husband and wife in 1949, sang like twin songbirds but with ranges an octave apart. This blend would be effective in any singing style, but was uniquely suited to the style of jazz vocalese. Along with goofy singer Eddie Jefferson, Jackie & Roy were innovators in a type of jazz...