ALBUM REVIEW : Jones Returns With a Feast of Styles and Musicality : QUINCY JONES “Back on the Block,” Qwest *** 1/2

It’s not surprising that Jones, who hasn’t put out an album under his own name since 1981, would want to return with something that’s as much a statement as a collection of songs. “Back on the Block” conveys a sense of summation as producer-arranger Jones deploys a lavish roster of all-star talent in a broad overview of black pop music.

There is no stylistic redlining on Jones’ block, where rap, be-bop, ‘70s jazz fusion, African music and contemporary pop/R&B; all get credit--sometimes in imaginative combinations that occupy the same song. The album’s main weaknesses are a smattering of routine material, and a lack of cohesive thematic thrust to go with Jones’ compendium of styles.

But wonderful musicality says an awful lot on its own, and the high points of “Back on the Block” are brimming with it. The title song is a bracing, potentially influential amalgam in which Jones weaves African choral motifs (courtesy of Andrae Crouch’s gospel choir) around and under sharp, straightforward raps by Ice-T, Kool Moe Dee and others, then turns up the melodic juice with some soul shouting by Tevin Campbell, a 12-year-old ringer for the young Michael Jackson.

Jones, whose role on “Back on the Block” is that of a conductor rather than a performer, shines with his ability to make human voices sound enticing (high points include “Setembro,” a mellow, Brazilian-flavored chorus piece featuring Take 6, “Wee B. Dooinit,” wherein Bobby McFerrin leads an a cappella version of a techno-funk band, and “The Secret Garden,” a fine, glossy piece of swooning, seductive bedroom soul).

Even with the emphasis on voices, Jones leaves room for instrumental soloists to fire up the block party with lots of fancy licks. At a time when Svengali producers are ascendant in rap and R&B;, Jones has served up a producer’s reminder that it’s human performance, not studio sound, that matters most.