*****

THE country may be deeply divided, but you wouldn’t know it if you were parachuted into Love Supreme for the weekend.

Befitting the name, the jazz, funk and soul festival felt like a love-in for serious music fans as well as casual singalongs.

A finely curated line-up featured some of the best in the business, with iconic singer Grace Jones and legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach proving worthy main stage headliners.

Grammy Award-winning Esperanza Spalding was an early highlight on Saturday afternoon.

For a child prodigy whose career had been fairly conventional, latest concept album Emily’s D+Evolution takes an altogether more psychedelic path. She conceived an alternative universe backed by choreographed theatrics from her backing dancers. Showing mind-boggling expertise on the bass, Spalding simultaneously sang and jerk-danced like a robot.

Kandace Springs played a cosy though rather lightweight set of piano standards, with a soulful rendition of Sam Smith’s Stay With Me.

The Erik Truffaz Quartet gave a versatile exploration of jazz, electronics and looping, orchestrated by Truffaz’s swirling trumpet.

Jazz super-trio Scofield Mehldau Guiliana conjured up a slow jam which emphasized the space around the groove and moved in unexpected ways.

Acid jazz veteran St Germain saw a big crowd, joined by a group of Malian musicians to bring traditional instruments to his signature sound.

But Grace Jones was the biggest show in town and when the shroud covering the main stage was released there was a frisson of panic as fans struggled to see her. She emerged soon enough, apparently naked but for tribal body paint as a sexy zebra, setting the scene for a raunchy but playful show from the 68-year-old.

As well as a truly astonishing stage show, which included a similarly scantily-clad male acrobat, Jones played a load of hits. My Jamaican Guy, Love Is A Drug and Slave To The Rhythm all got big reactions.

It was hard to recover from such an all-round fantastic performance but Gilles Peterson and long-time collaborator Patrick Forge did their best, reviving their 1980s Dingwalls residency with a barnstorming Latin DJ set, on a sound system so fine-tuned and crisp it had the energy and clarity of a live performance.

The schedule was a little lighter on Sunday, with Average White Band warming up the main stage on a sunny afternoon with their lively brand of soul and funk, original Scottish members bolstered by accomplished US additions.

R&B star Kelis felt slightly incongruous on the main stage, though she toned down her raucousness for a sultry jazz-tinted set in baking sunshine, including the undeniably groove of Good Stuff.

The talk of the festival was Kamasi Washington, whose stock has also risen outside jazz following collaborations with Kendrick Lamar. The tenor saxophonist and band leader has a surging classic sound, evoking the early 1960s golden age, such as John Coltrane’s mantra which gives the festival its name – as well as modern touches which sit well alongside contemporaries such as Robert Glasper. Unfortunately the performance lacked the intimacy and soulfulness of his record and, with dual drummers, the sound was uncharacteristically out of sync at times.

Burt Bacharach is often credited with having one the greatest songbooks of all time, and it would be hard to argue with that after seeing his closing performance on Sunday night.

With almost too many cherished songs, they were given the medley treatment, which was fine for the mums and dads awoken from their camping chairs in the twilight.

(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me, Walk On By and I Say A Little Prayer were rattled through, evoking the impact Bacharach has had on black music as well as the pop music canon.

There was a sedate quality to the delivery, especially in Bacharach’s voice, which cracked into a whisper on occasions. His voice has never been the strongest and it was audible in the hiss from his microphone where it was turned up. At 88, though, he can be forgiven.

With no showy theatrics for a Sunday evening showcase, the set allowed the songs to breathe and made for a jolly karaoke-style singalong that rounded off a supreme festival.