A former Prince protegee who penned her own piano songs, the Nashville songbird realized her potential as a jazz stylist on 2020’s outstanding “The Women Who Raised Me.” With imagination and grace, she interpreted tunes made famous by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack, Sade and others. Avishai Cohen’s lonely trumpet punctuates an unforgettable “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and Springs inhabits Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” like she wrote it. This year, Springs offered an esoteric curio, “My Name Is Sheba,” a soundtrack to the podcast of the same name.
Kandace Springs
STAR TRIBUNE PICK