Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
Kandace Springs Sings Billie Holiday
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
Kurt Elling will participate in the Jazz Across Borders conference in Russia.
(Photo: Anna Webber)Jazz Across Borders, the first international jazz forum and festival in Russia, will be held on Nov. 17–18 in St. Petersburg.
The conference will assemble international and Russian jazz community representatives, and it will provide musicians with a unique opportunity to present their music to the leading producers of the jazz world.
Among the confirmed participants is vocalist and DownBeat Critics Poll winner Kurt Elling, pianist and bandleader John Beasley, Simon Cooke (managing director of Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London), Jae Jin In (creator and producer of the Jarasum Jazz Festival in South Korea), Peter Gontha (creator and producer of the Java Jazz Festival) and Carlo Pagnotta (creator and producer of the Umbria Jazz Festival).
The event will consist of four elements:
JAB Conference. This will include panel discussions, round-table talks and clinics. The members of the JAB will discuss current problems and trends in the industry, ways to promote foreign jazz artists in Russia, strategies to promote Russian artists abroad, organizing tours in Russia and many other topics.
JAB Showcases. These showcases will give Russian and foreign jazz performers an opportunity to present their music to a wide array of industry professionals (promoters, program directors of festivals, club operators, representatives of labels, journalists and others).
JAB Club Night. Participants can enjoy shows in St. Petersburg.
JAB Gala. This gala concert will feature Elling and the internationally acclaimed big band Igor Butman & The Moscow Jazz Orchestra. The show will take place on the stage of the Main Hall of the State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg.
For more information, visit the conference website. DB
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
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