Roy Kral

Joseph Roy Kral ( born October 10, 1921 in Cicero, Illinois; † August 2, 2002 in Montclair, New Jersey ) was an American jazz pianist, singer and composer, part of the singing duo Jackie and Roy with his wife Jackie Cain.

Kral was the son of a local politician of Czech origin in Illinois and learned as a child classical piano. For jazz, he came through live broadcasts of the band by Earl Hines. In 1938 he had his own big band in Cicero. After military service in World War II, in which he ( which was also broadcast on the radio) for Army bands played and arranged in Illinois, he worked in a radio band in Detroit. In 1947 he moved to Chicago, where he played in a quartet of his friend George Davis. There he met his future wife in 1947 Jackie Cain, who tried his hand as a singer. 1949 married both. 1948/49, he was with Charlie Ventura in the " Bop for the People " band, where he arranged an old song ("I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" ) at the request of the manager in the bebop idiom. That was the beginning of a successful career in the vocalese singing style. Ventura committed Cain as a singer and as a pianist and arranger in addition Kral for the scaled-down to a septet Big Band (1949 /50). Plates appeared in 1949 from a live concert in Pasadena, organized by Gene Norman ( Norman's label in GNP and Decca ) and from 1949 on RCA. Later Kral occurred in a duo with his wife Jackie Cain. Both had the early 1950s also own TV show in Chicago. In the 1950s, they were a lot - partially with Charlie Ventura (1953 ) - in New York and Las Vegas ( around 1957 ) on. Together took " Jackie and Roy " on the 40 plates, such as " Spring can really hang you up the most " of 1955 ( Storyville, Black Lion ) with Shelly Manne, Red Mitchell and Barney Kessel. In June 2002, the two appeared at a tribute concert for the singer Teddi King.

Roy Kral had three daughters. He was the older brother of singer Irene Kral ( 1932-1978 ).