Jackie Cain died on Tuesday at 86. For over 50 years, she partnered with pianist Roy Kral in marriage and song. I loved the wit and warmth of their collaboration, the kick they seemed to give each other in tune after tune. Marc Myers said it well in noting, “There is no cheerier voice in jazz than Jackie Cain’s.” That was the opening line of his JazzWax feature on Cain in 2009. Here’s an excerpt from their conversation.
JW: “How did you become so hip so fast?” JC: “Just naturally. I had listened to a lot of jazz records. You see, I had always tried to learn solos from musical instruments. One was a solo on an Allen Eager tune. Listening to instrumental solos inspired us. Roy would write out a solo and I’d sing it. We were very lucky because Roy and I sang in the same range, which was rare. I may have had a little more in the high end, but we were very close.”
Myers, who writes on music and architecture for The Wall Street Journal, has been a generous booster of the NEPR Jazz blog on JazzWax, and I’m happy to return the favor by linking you to his outstanding feature on Jackie Cain, which is here.
The Jackie & Roy magic is evident on this pair of recordings, “Cheerful Little Earful,” which was composed by Harry Warren and Ira Gershwin, and Clifford Brown’s great jazz melody, “Daahoud.”
Cain delivered more than good cheer. In 1955, she and Roy made what for many is the definitive recording of “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.” She rendered Fran Landesman’s famous lyric of seasonal ennui with just the right measure of pathos.
Hugh Downs was a fan, and while he says he fears sounding “like a snob,” here he introduces Jackie & Roy with a strong endorsement: “There isn’t much room for improvement.”