On paper, it makes so much sense. Two different icons from New Orleans connecting to make an album together.
One is Galactic, the funk-meets-everything outfit that's been a mainstay in The Big Easy for over 30 years.
The other is Irma Thomas, whose legacy goes back even further. The Soul Queen of New Orleans' stunning rendition of "Time is On My Side" inspired The Rolling Stones back in the '60s.
Their new collaborative album is called Audience With the Queen. It features eight new original songs, specifically written for Thomas.
In this session, Galactic's Robert Mercurio and Thomas join us to talk about making the album, including the noble efforts the band made to prepare the studio only to find out why that wasn't necessary.
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
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