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Following Hurricane Katrina, Fox News began circulating the
story that Irma Thomas, along with other New Orleans music notables
such as Fats Domino, had gone missing in the ensuing flood.
The story spread through the media, and the phones at Rounder
Records began to ring as concerned fans, friends and musical
associates called to ask about her safety. As it turned out,
the news report was false. She'd been gigging in Austin, Texas,
and hadn't even been in New Orleans when the storm hit. What
was clear was that the press was acknowledging Thomas as a treasured
cultural icon who embodies the very soul of New Orleans.
Known for her 1960's hits such as "Time Is On My Side," "It's
Raining" and "Wish Someone Would Care," Irma later won Grammy
nominations for her live album, Simply the Best!, and
her collaboration with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson, Sing
It!, both on Rounder. Over the years, Thomas became a beloved
favorite at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Thomas told the Boston Herald, "Well, I guess people thought
I was dead. When I became somebody who was no longer around,
I became somebody worth looking at." With her home, her nightclub
and her other properties flooded and the mementos, photos and
awards from her 40-year career lost, Irma still managed to find
more than a few bright spots in her post-Katrina life. She and
her husband, Emile Jackson, found a temporary home in Gonzales,
Louisiana, near Baton Rouge. Since Katrina, she's appeared at
September's Big Easy Benefit Concert at Madison Square Garden,
on Jools Holland's BBC New Year's Eve telecast, at Switzerland's
prestigious Davos Festival, on the Today show and on the recent
Grammy awards.
Now, Thomas has returned to the studio for her first new album
in six years, completed just a few days before her 65th birthday.
With After the Rain, Thomas and producer Scott Billington
celebrate their 20th anniversary of collaboration with an adventurous
project that will both surprise and delight Thomas' fans. Said
Billington, "Irma has one of the richest and most beautiful
voices in contemporary music. It seemed confining at this stage
of her career to make a straight R&B record, so we broke the
mold." The result is a recording that frames Thomas' vocals
with spare arrangements and many acoustic instruments, and with
a repertoire that spans 75 years of great American songwriting.
Logistics for making the album were complicated by Katrina,
which destroyed Ultrasonic Studio in New Orleans. The sessions
finally came together at Dockside Studio in rural Maurice, Louisiana,
with Ultrasonic engineers David Farrell and Steve Reynolds at
the recording console. Billington assembled a dream team of
Louisiana musicians, including keyboardists David Torkanowsky
and David Egan; guitarists Corey Harris and Sonny Landreth;
fiddler/fretless banjo player/guitarist Dirk Powell; acoustic
bassist James Singleton; drummer Stanton Moore; and vocalists
Juanita Brooks, Marc Broussard and Charles "Chucky C" Elam.
The album opens with a deeply soulful version of Arthur Alexander's
"In the Middle of It All," before breaking into the fiddle-driven
funk of the minor key "Flowers," from Nashville writers Kevin
Gordon and Gwil Owen. - More - The David Egan-penned ballad,
"If You Know How Much," may have inspired Thomas' most powerful
and emotional vocal performance on record in many years. Other
highlights are a version of the traditional "Another Man Done
Gone," with new lyrics from Thomas and Billington that explore
the plight of those not able to return home, and the country
song "Another Lonely Heart," by Los Angeles songwriter Eleni
Mandell.
Perhaps what is most impressive about this recording is that
Irma Thomas is now at the very peak of her powers, delivering
every song with resonating feeling, honesty and that amazing
voice, 46 years after her first recording. We don't need a hurricane,
thank you, to remind us that this is one cultural icon who is
sounding better than ever.
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Purchase Irma Thomas and the Professionals'
Music Online:
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| Amazon.com |
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Irma Thomas and the Professionals
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Biography
in PDF Format | High-Res
Promotional Photo A,
B,
C
Photo credits Rick Olivier |
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