PAC presents perfect pairing for Valentines Day

Nashville, Tennessee jazz singer and pianist Kandace Springs headlines a romantic Valentine’s evening of jazz and soul at Partridge Hall on Feb. 14, with St. Catharines-based Juno Award winner Sammy Jackson opening the show. 

A Nashville native, Springs was originally discovered via her early YouTube videos. One of those videos was seen by none other than Prince in 2014. Impressed with what he called her “voice that could melt snow”, he invited the singer, pianist and songwriter to his Paisley Park studios. Soon she was signed to the legendary Blue Note record label.

Though Nashville is known more for country music than it is for jazz and soul, her father, legendary soul singer Kenneth “Scat” Springs, blazed a trail for her. She credits Scat for her development as a jazz performer.

“He always played and listened to funk music and soul,” she says about her dad, who for 30 years fronted the Nashville institution the Scat Springs Band. “I kind of got into jazz through his Nina Simone, Norah Jones and Roberta Flack records. That’s what shaped who I am.”

Those influences are evident on Kandace’s four albums, especially so on her 2020 Blue Note release The Women Who Raised Me, an homage to some of the most legendary female jazz singers. In fact, she covers Killing Me Softly With His Song, made famous by Flack, and duets with Jones herself on Angel Eyes as part of that collection. 

“I was in the middle of a gig in Minneapolis,” Springs says. “During our break I texted her. I told her she was one of my biggest inspirations, and asked her to play on the album. She texted me back in 10 minutes and said she’d love to.”

That album also includes instrumental contributions from Christian McBride (bass), David Sanborn (sax) and Elena Pinderhughes (flute), a testament to the respect some of the biggest names in jazz have for Springs’ talent on the piano.

On her most recent record, My Name is Sheba, Springs’ voice proves to be as rich and complex as ever on a set of original songs that has inspired a 33-episode fictional podcast by the same name that takes on the struggle of living the creative life.

Sheba is a stunning collection of compositions that includes a guest appearance by Scat himself on the opening track Simple Things. As much as her singing shines on the record, her piano work, especially on the beautiful Love is All We Have, is stellar. 

Sadly, Scat Springs passed away in 2021. Kandace’s new album Run Your Race, set to be released any day now, is a tribute to her father. The title cut hit streaming services on January 11. It’s a heartfelt paean to her father's influence, with a powerful, gospel-inflected crescendo for a coda.  

Springs will be fronting an all-female jazz trio in St. Catharines for her Niagara debut. Caylen Bryant, whose own father, saxophonist and composer Lance Bryant, is her biggest influence, will be on bass, while Camille Gainer-Jones lays down the beat on drums. Both Gainer Jones and Bryant also front their own combos when not playing with Kandace.

“They both sing a bit and back me up,” Springs says. “They are so talented. I can't brag enough about them. It’s great to tour with them. We have only one guy who tours with us, our manager. He just puts up with us.”

Springs laughs that since the show is on Valentine’s Day, the trio will play “some of our less depressing songs. I promise you’ll have a good time, there’ll be some laughing, there’ll be some crying, too."

And she loves to take requests from audience members. 

“Sometimes they come a long way to hear certain songs,” Springs explains. “I would really like to hear suggestions from some of the guests coming to this show. I like to get feedback, narrow it down and give the audience what they want to hear.”

St. Catharines’ own jazz and R ‘n’ B chanteuse Sammy Jackson will play a homecoming set to open the show. 

The singer with a smokey voice is known for weaving pop influences into her jazz stylings. Her second release, the EP With You, featuring the single Past Tense, earned her the 2021 Juno Award for Jazz Album of the Year. 

It’s the perfect jazz double-bill that promises to make for a perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. For tickets, visit firstontariopac.ca.