The Brits may have completely missed the boat as far as their compatriot Carmel is concerne!, but since Ms McCourt and her band crossed the Channel, the French have gone wild over her bewitching blend of R'n'B, jazz and Afro. They love her style, they adore her agonizingly ecstatic voice, and they probably detect in her something of an unhibited Piaf of the '80's who's free to improvize and tickle the Gallic sensibility for jazz, which somehow seems never to have sounded quite right to the British ear. If Carmel feels at home in France, chances are that with a perfectly suited venue like the "Contrastes" series, she'll feel pretty comfortable in Montreal. When that happens, just sit back and let her cast her spelll