Don't Let It Go to Your Head: The Anthology

Released in 2018 by journalist David Nathan's Soul Music label, Don't Let It Go to Your Head is easily the most thoughtful and generous Jean Carn compilation. Most of the selections are drawn from Carn's time with Philadelphia International and its subsidiary TSOP, when she was in the top class of vocalists specializing in elegant soul that did not pander to the mainstream. Included are all the essentials off these four 1976-1981 albums -- "Time Waits for No One," "Don't Let It Go to Your Head," the superior 12" inch version of "Was That All It Was," and "Bet Your Lucky Star" among them. A raft of duets and featured appearances on releases headlined by Norman Connors, Dexter Wansel, Al Johnson, Roy Ayers, and Grover Washington, Jr. -- altogether a distillation of the Expansion label's Collaborations anthology -- enhance the two-disc set. Listeners with more adventurous taste should also seek Carn's earlier work on progressive jazz sessions led by the likes of Connors, Doug Carn, Azar Lawrence, and James Mtume.