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Jazz Articles about Irene Kral
Funk in a Deep Freeze
by Mary Foster Conklin
For the Sunday of the Women's March we played new releases by pianist Judy Night, flutist Magela Herrara, Judy Bisantz, Bob Levy and saxophonist Carol Sudhalter with birthday shout outs to Eartha Kitt, Irene Kral, Jose James, Cheryl Bentyne, Peter Eldridge, Sade, and Dolly Parton, among others. Playlist Pam Fleming Keep It Movin" from Buds (Infinite Room Rpm) 00:00 Rene Marie A Tiny Seed" from Ice on the Hudson (SMK Jazz) 05:19 Karrin Allyson Big Discount" from Some ...
read moreIrene Kral: Second Chance
by Jim Santella
Singer Irene Kral (1932-1978) communicated with her audience through more than just music; she could make everyone in the room believe in what she had to say and take the message home with them for keeps. Recorded in 1975, this program of jazz standards features a nightclub performance with vocalist, acoustic piano trio and swirling emotions.The lyrics of Second Chance," by André Previn and Dory Langdon Previn, make it clear that she believed in letting her feelings tell ...
read moreIrene Kral: Just for Now
by Victor L. Schermer
Just for Now Irene Kral Jazzed Media JM1003 2004
Irene Kral (1932-1978) was a gem of a vocalist who was brought to the public’s attention by Clint Eastwood, who used excerpts of her recordings in the 1995 movie, “The Bridges of Madison County.” Like Chris Connor, June Christie, and Anita O’Day, she came up the way of the big bands (in her case, those of Joe Burckhardt and Maynard Ferguson) and then established herself ...
read moreIrene Kral: Where is Love?
by Michael P. Gladstone
It's really quite amazing to read anything about the late jazz vocalist Irene Kral. I've never seen anything less than superlative adjectives applied to her all-too-brief career. The younger sister of singer-pianist Roy Kral (Jackie & Roy) who died in July 2002, she spent some time with Maynard Ferguson's band in 1957 and Herb Pomeroy's organization in Boston in '58. I've always enjoyed her presence as Eliza Doolittle on Shelly Manne's 1964 My Fair Lady with the Unoriginal Cast, in ...
read moreIrene Kral: Karal Space
by Ron Meyers
Long out of print as an LP (on Catalyst) and at a premium when you can find it, Kral Space has finally come to CD. Thank Collectables (#7160) for this. Accompanied as usual by Alan Broadbent and as a bonus the under recorded Emil Richards on vibes and percussion, this CD, only 37:21 has some great Irene Kral vocals, including Frishberg's Wheelers and Dealers. Vocal fans will also want to know that songs by Fran Landesman and Bob Dorough are ...
read moreIrene Kral: Kral Space
by Mathew Bahl
Perhaps the great lost jazz singer of her generation, Irene Kral’s career was cruelly cut short by her untimely death from breast cancer on August 15, 1978 at age 46. The younger sister of Roy Kral of Jackie & Roy fame, Irene Kral started her career in the 1950s. She sang on the road with various bands including those of Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Shelly Manne. She recorded a few albums the best of which was the ...
read moreIrene Kral: You Are There
by AAJ Staff
Clint Eastwood's Bridges of Madison County is one film that changed my life. Not that I ended up getting a date with Meryl Streep. Nor that I had a Zen awakening to all the bridges that exist in life and love. No, it was the background crooning of two astonishing vocalists whom I, in my regrettable ignorance, had never before heard. When I saw the movie (and listened to its absorbing soundtrack), I glued my eyes to the credits and ...
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