CRITIC'S CHOICE

Rickie Lee Jones, Tuesday, May 17, at the Paramount Theatre, is a singer-songwriter whose soulful beauty and jazzy articulation has not been dimmed by the years: This Beat angel continues to tantalize her audience by uncovering new, deviant elements of her musical persona. She's still willing to take listeners back to "Coolsville" and hang with street-corner "Pirates," but she's also defined a vocal style that draws equally from jazz, folk and pop pools. Jones's work has always sought redemption from life's many agonies, and her latest release, Traffic From Paradise, is no exception; its abundant spiritual motifs are part of a world where the devils are fetching and the sinners are sensual and decidedly pure. Her new material should no doubt contribute to an adventurous evening of catching prayers and embracing lust.