Aretha Franklin sounded relaxed and happy during a phone interview that took place while she rolled down the highway in her tour bus—she disliked flying—on her way to New Orleans for her 2012 appearance at the Essence Festival. The show, in which she was joined by this city’s own Paul S. Morton and the Greater St. Stephen Church choir, would be the last time the Queen of Soul would perform in the Crescent City. The much be...