Kandace Springs - Lady in Satin - Vinyl LP

2025

You'd have to be out of your mind to cover Lady in Satin (1958), one of Billie Holiday's final LPs and widely considered a masterpiece today. Unless, of course, you can pull it off, and vocalist Kandace Springs does just that on her new SRP release. She has the voice, the phrasing and the feel—without making the fatal mistake of mirroring Holiday's ache and phrasing.

The Nashville-born jazz/soul pianist and singer is no rookie. She has released four previous studio albums and performed on Late Night with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Her voice is seasoned and her taste and artistic judgment are top-notch.

The original Lady in Satin (Columbia) was arranged by Ray Ellis and recorded in February 1958. Columbia wanted her to sing songs she hadn't recorded before, which proved to be challenging for Holiday in her fading months. Holiday's choice of Ellis to arrange the LP was to ensure she had a pretty, relaxed backdrop. Ellis assembled a 40-piece orchestra, complete with horns, strings, reeds and even a three-piece choir.

But recording live with a symphonic accompaniment is a high-pressure enterprise, even in your prime. The singer has to be perfect and in control, since recording take after take in that environment often leads to diminishing returns. Add age, illness due to addiction and poor overall health, and it's quite a mountain that Holiday had to climb.

The song that best reflects the struggles Holiday endured in the studio is The End of a Love Affair. Despite her best efforts, Holiday didn't quite know how to navigate the melody and lyrics. As she admits on tape on the album's reissue, she was unfamiliar with the song and couldn't feel it. Ultimately, Ellis had the orchestra record the instrumental track, followed by Holiday recording her vocal to the music either coming through headphones or over monitor speakers in an empty studio.

The original Lady in Satin remains a towering work for its rough edges and the juxtaposition of Holiday's unsteady voice, Ellis's mink-stole arrangements, and the gorgeous instrumental soloists used on the session.

So how did Kandace pull off updating the venerated classic? By recording in Portugal, for starters. The orchestra there was conducted by Diogo Costa, and a range of Portuguese arrangers handled the 12 selections. An astonishing undertaking, and the orchestral results are simpatico with Ellis's original intent.

In a few cases, the arrangers hewed close to the originals. In others, they came up with a different but empathetic approach. Also interesting was the decision to organize the lineup of songs differently than the original album. I suspect this was to drive home the point that this shouldn't be considered a carbon copy but a respectful interpretation.

Kandace's decision to take on Holiday could have gone terribly wrong five different ways, especially for jazz fans who know the album inside and out. Instead, her tribute wound up perfect on every level. Rather than perform as Holiday, Kandace delivers sterling interpretations on her terms.

Kandace's new album is a glorious valentine to Holiday, Ellis and the original LP without ever compelling the listener to compare them. The two recordings are the same and yet very different. And that's where the art rests—in taste and talent. If you love Holiday's original, this one is a must own.

Marc Myers

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/kandace-springs-lady-in-satin/