IRMA THOMAS - Simply Grand

Aug 18 2008 By Jack Daniels

(Rounder)

SHE may be in her 60s now but Irma Thomas remains one of the finest R&B singers ever to emerge from New Orleans, and this cleverly titled set finds her keeping it simple in the company of a dozen pianists ranging from Randy Newman to Dr John.

It was with the latter that Thomas played on her first recording 49 years ago, and he repays the compliment on blues workouts If I Had Any Sense and Be You. Listen, too, for the spiritual River Is Waiting, a new song by Creedence legend John Fogerty, here performed with Henry Butler.