Jackie Cain

by Eugene ChadbourneOne 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 singing that is distinct from scat singing. While the latter uses nonsense syllables or sheer vocal sounds, jazz vocalese involves writing an actual text of lyrics that can be sung in what hopefully is an exact approximation of a famous jazz instrumental solo. A sense of humor helps a great deal in the creation of enjoyable performances in this style; Cain helped come up with some of the duo's funniest material, such as the pleasantly scented "You Smell Good," a direct contrast to Eddie Jefferson's lyrics to "Filthy McNasty." In the '60s, Cain and hubbie got around to recording material by Paul Simon and Donovan as well as a commercial for Plymouth. By 1990 Cain had appeared on more than 50 recordings. In addition to her singing she has also studied both flute and cello.