Jackie & Roy

The album's subtitle: "A Tribute to Alan J. Lerner," could have just as easily honored Frederick Loewe and Burton Lane as well since all the tunes are from collaborations Lerner had with these two composers. Jackie Cain and Roy Kral have pretty much stayed with tunes from familiar Broadway musicals like My Fair Lady, Paint Your Wagon, and Brigadoon, but there's a cut from an early Lerner/Loewe production, The Day Before Spring from 1945. Although there is some unevenness in the music in that some of the material sounds a bit dated, everything is done with that inimitable patented singing as one, professional and swinging style Cain and Kral have been using successfully for more than 50 years. For this album, a vibes player has been added to create an airy, glittering tone to the proceeding. Steve Light applies his mallets to excellent effect throughout making his presence felt on such tunes as "Show Me." Roy Kral spends most of his time at the piano, leaving the vocalizing to Cain and she takes advantage of the spotlight with poignant readings of "If Ever I Would Leave You" and the lovely "Too Late Now." One More Rose does not rank up there with some other albums this duo has released, but nonetheless it is a very pleasant listen. ~ Dave Nathan, Rovi