The Philips International Jazz Festival is back for round two. After drawing over 7,000 people to see Van Morrison, the Acker Bilk Band and others at Sazka Arena last year, this year's festival brings some bigger jazz names and more contrasting styles to two halls at the Congress Center. Dee Dee Bridgewater and Joshua Redman are headlining the bill, with support from the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Viktoria Tolstoy. Tonya Graves and the Rhythm Desperados add some local flavor, capping the evening with a midnight jazz party.

Tolstoy, a Swedish jazz and pop vocalist, is the great-great-granddaughter of the famous Russian writer. In 1997, she released White Russian on Blue Note, the first Scandinavian ever signed to this prestigious label. Her music doesn't have the trademark Blue Note groove, which may be why she's now on another label. She'll be opening the festival with her tender sound, accompanied by her quartet.

North American Latin jazz and salsa are rare treats in this town, so the appearance of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra should draw a dance contingent that may leave traditional jazz lovers aghast. Led by salsa king Oscar Hernandez, this New York dance band keeps the sound and spirit of Tito Puente alive. They've only been together five years, but their recent release Across 110th Street won this year's Grammy for Best Salsa Record. They will perform two sets in the Social Hall (Spolecensky´ sál), with a 45-minute break in between.

Redman and his Elastic Band have the misfortune of being sandwiched between the Latino orchestra's sets. Hopefully he won't be too disturbed by the tired dancers converging on his performance during the break. But as a first-rate saxophonist with the suave sound of vintage Sonny Rollins, Redman should be a treat for serious jazz fans. And he serves as a great opener for the main headliner, Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Bridgewater was well-known in jazz circles in the United States in the early 1970s, fronting for Thad Jones and Mel Lewis' band. She came to larger prominence singing in the Broadway musical The Wiz.

Bridgewater worries that jazz singing, as epitomized by Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, is near extinction. But thanks to her, this style lives on — best heard on her Grammy-winning tribute to Fitzgerald, Dear Ella, and her new release, J'ai deux amours, a collection of French chansons in jazz arrangements, sung in French and sporadic English, with bluesy American soul.

Touring for her new album as a French-singing chanteuse is appropriate, as Bridgewater lived in France for most of the '90s, appearing only rarely in the United States. This is in the tradition, too: For many black American jazz stars, Paris has been a welcome retreat from racial discrimination. From the flamboyant Josephine Baker of the '20s to political-minded Nina Simone, who died in Provence in 1993, jazz ladies have shown a particular affinity for France.

Like Baker, Bridgewater is originally from Flint, Michigan. In the liner notes to the J'ai deux amours album, she says, "My success in France has sometimes been likened to [Baker's]. I had to pay her my respects." Bridgewater says the album is also her way of thanking France for opening its arms to her. "My time in this country has been one of healing, growth as a woman and artist, and a discovery of the rest of the world," she says.