Irma keeps 'Grand' company

Irma Thomas

Simply Grand (Rounder)

ESSENTIAL "What Can I Do"

What's the difference between soul and R&B? Live instruments. Their presence or absence usually mark the gap between the two genres, but there is also a languor associated with soul not customarily found in the hit-seeking missiles of contemporary R&B.

By those measures, then, Irma Thomas is undoubtedly a soul singer. The Soul Queen of New Orleans is accompanied by an all-star cast of pianists on her new album, "Simply Grand," including Dr. John, Randy Newman, and Norah Jones, but the only star on display is Thomas herself. "Simply Grand" gives Thomas room to unwind, and she makes the most of it.

Rather than show off her pipes, Thomas keeps an even keel and a measured tempo. Songs like "Too Much Thinking" and "River Is Waiting" are supper-club music in the best sense -calm, sophisticated, and charming. Keeping it simple, Thomas lets the pianists' fingers do the walking, lying back in the cut and riding the ululations of the piano like a blues singer playing off his guitar. And when Thomas does let loose, as she briefly does toward the conclusion of the magnificent "What Can I Do," the result is spine-tinglingly gorgeous.

"Simply Grand" is an album whose charms are too subtle to catch on the first spin or third, but enough listens will make it clear that the album's title is nothing more than a statement of fact. [Saul Austerlitz]