Jean Carne

★★★★ JID012 JAZZ IS DEAD. CD/DL/LP

Veteran soul singer rolls back the years in astounding new work for the Jazz Is Dead series.

Carne’s fans tend to fall into two distinct camps: those who gravitate to her late-’70s disco-soul anthems for Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International label and others who prefer the more experimental, jazz-tinged work with her keyboard-playing ex-husband Doug from the early part of the same decade. This, her first album in 26 years, masterminded by producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, has much in common with the singer’s pre-Philly output for the Black Jazz label during the early ’70s. The opener, Come As You Are, sets the tone with Carne’s astral vocals soaring over a blend of woozy Rhodes chords, warbling synths and a deeply churning bassline. Carne’s five-octave voice is astonishingly supple for a 75-year-old, shining brightly on Black Rainbows and People Of The Sun, two delectable slices of trippy, interstellar soul-jazz.