Previously unreleased recording of Jackie Cain & Roy Kral captured live in 1976 at Howard Rumsey's Concerts By the Sea and joined by John Mosher on bass, Gary Nash on drums, and Brian Atkinson on vibes.
MUSICIANS:
Jackie Cain, vocals
Roy Kral, vocals and piano
John Mosher, bass
Gary Nash, drums
Brian Atkinson, vibes
In September 1976, Rumsey welcomed Jackie Cain and her husband Roy Kral, a vocal duo whose impeccably polished, bop-inflected duets of songs from Broadway, cabaret, and modern jazz had made them a connoisseur's delight since 1948. Arranger Roy, who played piano, spiced up every song with hip substitute chords and rhythmic twists; the end result was as pretty as it was sophisticated.
By the time he died in 2002, the couple had made about forty albums. This one deserves a high place among them. Its never-before-issued live tracks are culled from the same shows that yielded an obscure LP, Concerts by the Sea. But Echoes outshines its predecessor thanks to a superior mastering job by the original engineer, Rod Nicas. It's easy to hear why film critic Leonard Maltin, a fan of theirs, wrote in Down Beat of getting "so caught up in that alluring sound" that it virtually swept him away. Jackie's "exquisitely pure, crystal-like" tone was "a joy to hear," he added.
