Jazz singer Kevyn Lettau has come home.

Musically, she recently issued an album with longtime collaborator Peter Sprague -- in whose band she first began her singing career some 30 years ago.

Geographically, she just moved back to San Diego County after a couple of decades of living up in Los Angeles while she conquered the jazz worlds.

While the physical move was precipitated by the ending of her marriage and a desire to be near family, the musical move back to her roots has been more positive.

"I stopped teaching about a year and a half ago, and I got in touch with Peter and I said, 'Let's work together,'" Lettau said by phone last week from her new digs in Ocean Beach.

"I came down and we did some shows, and we did some shows in L.A., and we worked just as a duo. Peter said, 'Kevyn, we have to record this, it's so beautiful.' And he offered his home studio. It was really easy to make; it just kind of flowed; it was very natural."

That album, "What Is Enough?" was her first new stateside recording in a decade -- which seems surprising in that in the early '90s, Lettau was signed to Japanese electronics giant JVC's jazz label and became a regular presence at jazz concerts and tours worldwide, playing under her own name as well as with Sergio Mendes' combo.

JVC got out of the music business, though, and now Lettau finds her first five solo releases out of print.

"It's a shame because it's a beautiful body of work," she said. "They sold the masters to someone else. It's been pretty frustrating. I own my last four or five discs, but it's very frustrating to not own the others. I actually owned them, but at one point we decided to sell them to use the money to promote my career more. That was probably not a wise move, but we thought, 'Let's do this.'"

Before being signed to JVC, before Mendes took her under his wing, Lettau was a budding dancer who was in the first class at Torrey Pines High School after she moved from Germany to Del Mar to live with her father.

"I was just walking down the hallway one day singing to myself, and this guy who played saxophone heard me and said, 'Hey, I like your voice; you should join the jazz band we're starting.'"

That saxophonist was Tripp Sprague, younger brother of guitarist Peter, who soon added Lettau to his working band.

The chance to work regularly with the Spragues was part of what drew her to San Diego, Lettau said, although she added it isn't her place to assume Sprague will hire her all that often (although they are playing Saturday in downtown Escondido in a benefit for the public library).

"I think he's got a lot of singers he really likes to work with, and I was gone so long that I don't think I'm his first pick anymore. But I think there's a very special bond between us that just doesn't come overnight; we've played together for over 30 years."

As for the overall San Diego scene, Lettau said that while she's still settling into her new home and hasn't had a chance to see many shows, from what she's seen there are a lot more venues offering live jazz than when she moved to L.A. 25 years ago.

But other things haven't changed -- saxophonist Charles McPherson still ruling the jazz scene, for instance.

"He should be the king of the scene!" Lettau said when asked about McPherson's place on the pecking order of San Diego's jazz world.

"It's actually wonderful to come back and see that there are still people like Charles here!"

Peter Sprague with Kevyn Lettau

When: 5 p.m. July 11

Where: Escondido Public Library, 239 S. Kalmia St., Escondido

Tickets: $45 (includes dinner)

Info: (760) 839-4601 or library.escondido.org

Web: kevynlettau.com