Watchlist: Kandace Springs
Photo: Kandace Springs. Video: Bluenote Records.
Musical artist, Kandace Springs’ third album, The Women Who Raised Me, is a raw, audio love-letter to the women that have most impacted her music, stylings, and journey – an homage featuring renditions of songs made famous by some of history’s most iconic vocalists: Ella Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack, Astrud Gilberto, Lauryn Hill, Billie Holiday, Diana Krall, Carmen McRae, Bonnie Raitt, Sade, Nina Simone, and Dusty Springfield.
“It really expresses my love for all of these singers and gratitude for what they gave me. Each taught me something different and all of those lessons combined to make me who I am now.”
Produced by Larry Klein, the album features a collaboration with her “ultimate inspiration,” Norah Jones (Angel Eyes). As well, it features several other notable contributions, including from bassist Christian McBride (“Devil May Care”), saxophonist David Sanborn (“I Put A Spell On You”), and bassist Avishai Cohen (Pearls), among others. The sets adhere sonically to jazz while Kandace travels back and forth across nearly a century of music, existing apart from the normal rules that govern space, time, and talent. Her arrangements, deftly composed and delivered, are hauntingly beautiful. Each one evoking sense memories that masterfully connect past to present. Kandace adds an incredible depth of character and emotion to every phrase with her virtuosic voice and subtle playing that reflects a studied yet adventurous approach to reinventing these canonical works. It is an intimate showcase of her abilities – underscoring the power of her voice and hands, as well as her gift for moving between singers’ intonations and legacies while staying herself. In her music, one feels the spirit of an old soul in the youth of a rising Vanguard, much in the vain of those to whom she honors.
Kandace’s 2016 debut album Soul Eyes presented an already remarkably mature artistic voice with an album that touched upon soul and pop while channeling her jazz influences as well as her Nashville upbringing. MOJO marveled at the album’s “sensuous vocals with minimalist yet elegant arrangements” while The Guardian raved that “she has a rare ability that can’t be taught – to sound like an old soul, just doing what comes naturally.
Speaking about The Women Who Raised Me Kandace elaborates, “This is an album I’ve been wanting to make forever. It really expresses my love for all of these singers and gratitude for what they gave me. Each taught me something different and all of those lessons combined to make me who I am now. In a way, all I’m trying to do every day is live up to the examples they set. My dream is that people will listen to my album and then want to go learn more about all of these great women. If that happens, then I’ve done my job.”
– Christina Spearman