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The concept behind Simply Grand was to pair Thomas with a different star pianist on each track, and the results are mostly stunning.
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Concept albums like this can be a mess, but this one justifies its title: it's both simple and grand.
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Ms. Thomas sings warmly and forthrightly amid the two-fisted rumbas, R&B vamps, jazz ballads and barrelhouse flourishes. And without getting heavy-handed the song choices haven’t forgotten what happened to her beloved city.
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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.
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Her voice is rich, finely textured, and more expressive now than when it hit r&b charts in the 1960s. But her recordings can sound monotonous. That's not true here.
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Best of all, though, in these 14 piano-driven, acoustic settings is the pure, lustrous Thomas approach to everything from blues-drenched soul to chic jazz balladry.
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Simply Grand is the perfect showcase for Thomas’s impressive range and understated power.
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The tunes are old and new, borrowed and blue, but Thomas makes them all her own.
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Take one of the world’s finest singers, pair her with a wide variety of pianists and a selection of impeccably chosen songs, and you get an album of elegant passion and restraint.
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Thomas' versions of these stark, powerful tunes help Simply Grand live up to its title.
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Not all of the compositions here strike gold.
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MojoIrma and producer Scott Billington have devised the perfect setting. [Sep 2008, p.1000]