Singer Morgan James, coming to Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, returns to her first love

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — It's not an exaggeration to say that singer Morgan James, who on Friday takes the stage in a free show at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, has done it all — and done it all well.

• R&B, jazz and pop singer Morgan James plays Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 14
• The free show is part of the Levitt Pavilion summer series of nearly 50 concerts and 10 free family movie nights, which continues through Sept. 9
• James in March released her latest album, "Nobody's Fool," a disc of 1990s-inspired R&B

James started her career in theater, a veteran of such Broadway shows as "Motown: The Musical," "Godspell" and "The Addams Family," and even created an all-female show of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

She has released complete albums covering artists including Nina Simone (gospel/blues/jazz), Joni Mitchell (folk), John Mayer (pop) and, most recently, The Beatles' legendary rock disc "The White Album."

She's even recorded and toured with retro swing-jazz cover group Postmodern Jukebox — the work for which she's perhaps best known.

But as Morgan prepared to release her most recent album, "Nobody's Fool," she said it was time for her to return to the music with which she most identifies.

"It’s really an homage to ‘90s R&B and so much of those sounds of the ‘90s that I love so much,” James said in a phone call from the Jersey Shore, where she's taking a short break on an intense tour.

"I grew up on it. You know, it’s like, when you come of age in an era, it always remains special to you. So my coming-of-age music was in the ‘90s. So that’s what I associate with school dances and dating and graduating and moving on in my life. And everything kind of came with that — getting my driver’s license.

“You know, so it’s like nostalgia to me.”

Courtesy of Ashley Public Relations

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Back to the start

James said "Nobody's Fool" is more of a return to the sound she offered on her debut album, "Hunter," in 2014.

Since then, the two albums that James released were far more soul: 2017's "Reckless Abandon" and 2020's "Memphis Magnetic."

James and her husband and collaborator, Doug Wamble, co-wrote all the songs except for one, and the disc includes collaborations with former Tony! Toni! Toné! singer Raphael Saadiq, former Al Green saxophonist Lannie McMillan and producers/songwriters Sam Watters and Louis Biancaniello, who have worked with Kelly Clarkson.

"It’s got a lot more happy songs than I normally have on an album," James said.

The album's lone cover song is its first single, late singer Jeff Buckley's 1998 single “Everybody Here Wants You.” James had previously done an entire cover album of Buckley's 1994 disc "Grace," including his rendition of "Hallelujah."

James throughout her career has released cover discs of artists who have influenced her. At the start of her recording career, for example, she recovered a cover disc of D'Angelo's 2014 progressive soul/funk album "Black Messiah" just a month after its release.

Formidable rock voice

The biggest surprise of her cover albums may be her most recent: her 2018 entire cover of The Beatles' "The White Album," a classic disc of rock — a genre for which James isn't known.

“The 50th anniversary of ‘The White Album’ we were looking … we were kind of due to do another album cover, And I’m the kind of person that every day says ‘Go big or go home,’ and I decided to do the biggest one of them all — a 30-track double album," she said with a laugh.

“And it was a huge challenge. We learned so much — it was an album that I really only knew the hits from. And so going deep on that album was incredibly rewarding.”

It also showed James has a formidable rock voice. But James said rock could never be her main focus.

“You know, rock music has never spoken to me at all," she said. "I’m always going to be moving toward the R&B/blues that come from the richer blues.

"Soul music, R&B music is really where —and obviously jazz is a cousin of the blues — and that's where my soul and where my voice is best.

“I want to sing authentically. Even if I can sing something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I should. A lot of people ask me why I don’t do a country album. I say, ‘Well, there a lot of people where they study that genre and they’ve lived inside that genre, and I don’t want to get inside something that I don’t really, really understand.'

“And so with rock, it’s like, why don’t I sing opera? You know, my heart’s not in it.”

Courtesy Ashley White Public Relations

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Another look back

But James said that perhaps the most satisfying chapter of her career was her work recreating Broadway's "Jesus Christ Superstar" with an all-female cast in 2017, and its resulting 2020 disc, "She is Risen."

"That was my brainchild — that was my baby," she said. "I had a dream about it, I got it funded, I starred in it [as Jesus], I cast it, I produced it and everything in between. That project was a true labor of love from start to finish.

“It truly started as a dream. I had a dream that this happened, I told a couple of friends who said, ‘It’s a good idea, you should do it.’ People started coming onboard to make it possible."

Others who participated included Shoshana Bean from "Wicked" and "Hairspray," Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo of "The Color Purple," Tony nominee Orfeh of "Legally Blonde" and "Pretty Woman" and Grammy-nominated Ledisi.

"A lot of things went wrong in the process," she said. "But I was like, ‘I have to finish this. I have to get this out.'

"I think that everybody needs to hear these incredible women. It’s an all-female creative team, it’s an all-female orchestra [of 14 Broadway musicians], and all-female cast.

“This is before there was any gender bending. So when we did the concert in 2017, it was completely revolutionary at that moment and they weren’t doing any all-female this, or anything. So I felt like it was a huge challenge. I love a challenge.

"And it’s one of the things I’m most proud of doing.”

'A gateway drug'

But James says that while “I still love theater ... do miss it sometimes,” she said it would be too demanding right now.

"Theater requires 100 percent totality of your mind and heart and body and soul, so I would have to completely wipe my schedule clean for a long, long time, and I just don’t have the interest or the time to do that," she said.

“It’s a full-time job, and they don’t care if you have — you know, right now I’m booked through April. A theater production does not care about that," she said with a laugh.

James also said that she's also grateful for her early work with Postmodern Jukebox.

"I did 10 videos and I did four tours, and that’s how most people find me initially — is through PMJ and those videos," she said.

For example, her singing Aerosmith's "Dream On" with the group on YouTube has 30 million view. Her mash-up of Maroon 5 songs has 26 million views.

"A lot of them have gone viral, which I’m very thankful for," she said. "You know, I call it the gateway drug and people find one video and hopefully they stick around for the rest."

But James said she's more happy these days with "Nobody's Fool," singing the songs she loves most in a summer tour.

“It’s a fun summertime album," she said. "We’re in such a great groove playing this music ... I’m so thankful that live music is back and to perform outside in the summertime is really my biggest joy.

"So if people don’t know me or know what to expect, we’ll put on a fun show and hopefully make some new fans.”