Irene Kral

Irene Kral (born January 18, 1932 in Chicago , † August 15, 1978 in Encino ) was an American jazz singer .

Live and act

Kral was the daughter of a local politician of Czech origin in Illinois; her brother was the pianist Roy Kral . As a teenager she sang with Jay Burkhardt's big band and in 1954 with the Tattle-Tales , a vocal group where she also played drums. She then went on tour with the bands of Woody Herman and Chubby Jackson . On the recommendation of Carmen McRae , she sang with Maynard Ferguson from 1957 , where she stayed for two years and met her future husband Joe Burnett . Then she moved to Los Angeles , where she appeared regularly on the Steve Allen Show ; Allen also wrote the songs for her album Steveireneo . She also worked with Herb Pomeroy's band , with whom the album The Band and I was created. Then she worked with Shelly Manne and in Las Vegas . In 1961 she moved with her husband to the suburbs of Tarzana and interrupted her solo career because she raised her daughters Jodi and Melissa. She continued to work occasionally, for example in 1962 with the quintet by Buddy Collette or in 1964 with Laurindo Almeida , on whose album Guitar From Ipanema (1964), which won a Grammy , she can be heard. It was not until 1974 that she intensified her work as a singer again and continued her earlier successes until she suffered from cancer. Her albums KralSpace and Gentle Rain were nominated for a Grammy.

Her songs were used by Clint Eastwood in the soundtrack of the film The Bridges on the River .

Discographic notes

• Boy with Lots of Brass - EmArcy (1957)
• The Band and I - (1958, with Herb Pomeroy, Al Cohn )
• Detour Ahead - United Artists (1958)
• Steveireneo - United Artists (1959)
• Better Than Anything - DRG (1963)
• Wonderful Life - Mainstream (1965)
• Where is love? - (1974, with Alan Broadbent )
• Live in Tokyo - (1976)
• KralSpace - (1977)
• Gentle Rain - Choice (1977, with Alan Broadbent)

Web links

• Scott Yanows Biography of Kral (Engl.)
• Biography and Findings of Dana Countryman (Engl.)
• Irene Kral in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Feature at Jazzwax (2010)