Interview: Morgan James Looks Back on Her Debut Album For Upcoming Dizzy's Club Concert

10 years after its initial release, Morgan James will be revisiting her debut album album for an upcoming concert at Dizzy's Club.

A celebration of Nina Simone, the concert will be on Sunday, October 23 at 5:00 and 7:30 at Dizzy's Club, where she originally recorded the album. Tickets can be purchased here.

Recently, James also released the critically-acclaimed all-female studio cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, featuring herself, Cynthia Erivo, Shoshana Bean, Ledisi, and more.

BroadwayWorld caught up with James to discuss her thoughts on her debut album 10 years later, what the response to the all-female Jesus Christ Superstar studio cast recording was like, and what else she has planned for the future.

---

You have your concert coming up at Dizzy's Club on October 23rd What can audiences expect from this concert?

Well, this concert is really special to me because it's the 10 year anniversary of my first record. My first record was recorded right there in that room at Dizzy's, and it's a celebration of Nina Simone. We have a lot of the original band coming back together for the first time in 10 years. It's gonna be a real celebration.

It sounds like such a great full circle moment to celebrate 10 years. In the past 10 years, how has your perspective or your thoughts on the album changed?

Oh, it's funny you should ask that because I've been listening to it off and on because we're doing a lot of the same arrangements and I've learned a lot in 10 years. I've grown a lot. A lot has happened in 10 years. So sometimes when I listen to it, I feel so green. I'd never made a studio record. I was inexperienced. It almost feels childlike and like hopeful when I listen to it. So I think I've matured a lot. I think I've learned how to make a record for sure. I've made six records since then. But it's nostalgic. It's like that's the beauty of a live album is that it's a moment in time captured.

You mentioned that there will be new arrangements of some of the songs. Can we expect a lot of the music from that first album or will you be performing anything new?

Yeah, we're doing four new arrangements and then we're doing like nine songs off the original album. Clarence Penn is joining me on drums again. Ron Blake on saxophone. Doug Womble, of course, on guitar, which is where we met, actually, that's where I met my husband at Dizzy's. So it's a real full circle for us as well. Julius Rodriguez is gonna be on piano, and then Ben Wolfe is gonna be on bass, so it's an incredible band.

I love the Jesus Christ Superstar all-female studio recording. Since it was in the works for some time, what was it like to finally release the album?

I'm so proud of this project. It's been a real labor of love and taken me a long time to, to get it all finished for lots of different reasons. I'm so proud of it, mainly because I'm so honored to be on an album and create an album with this many incredible women. It's just all superstars. I think that it was just Meg Toohey who co-produced the album with me, we just had a similar vision for creating something that really, really honored the original 1971 recording. The cast is incredible and I look back on being in a room with that many powerhouse women and I've never been in a room like that before, since. So it was really just an honor.

How have you reacted to the positive response from the album? What was the response like for you?

You know, there are always a couple people, they're usually older white men who say, "Who needs this?" and "Why would you do this?" and "You're never gonna change the original." I always react, "No one's taking away your original cast recording. This is a companion piece. This is another perspective. We didn't change anything from the score. This is truly us. Our love for that score is, is just right on display in the album."

So primarily the response has been so supportive and so loving. I think people will find it in its own time. Because we're not touring it, because it's not on Broadway, it'll be a slow burn. People will find it because of Cynthia [Erivo], because of Ledisi, because of Shoshana [Bean]. They'll find it and hopefully it'll become something special that they rediscover the score.

Would you ever want to expand it into a full production? Would that ever be something in the future?

That would be a dream. The powers that be are a little difficult to work with. I'm sure that you heard about the Andrew Lloyd Weber camp. He's got a lot of irons in the fire and I think that pulling together that many people is so difficult. So I think that we did it. We did the concert, we did the recording, and that alone has been quite a difficult task. I mean, in a dreamworld, of course, I would love to do a production or a short run, but I don't think it's gonna be possible.

Would you ever want to take another musical and do another similar album? Do you have any ideas for that?

I have a couple musical ideas that I've been developing. They're not in the same all-female vein but, you know, musical theater. I just can't quit it. I always come back. I was brought up on those scores, I just love them so much. They're long processes, bringing a musical or a soundtrack to life is such a long, long process. Whereas when I make my own albums, it's so much simpler in a lot of ways, a lot less people to answer to. But yeah, I have a couple musical theater ideas swirling around in development and I hope that I'll be able to bring them to life.

You also released your holiday album, A Very Magnetic Christmas, last year. What was that like?

I had wanted to make a holiday album for as long as I can remember, because I am crazy about Christmas music. And I knew I wanted it to be special. We wrote four new holiday tunes and picked seven more classics. We recorded it live to analog tape in Memphis and had a live studio audience present. We decorated the whole studio. I wanted it to fit in with the soulful holiday albums I grew up with and loved, and I think it does.

Do you have any other music plans or any other upcoming projects in the future that you'd wanna talk about?

Yeah. I've been fundraising for my next album. We're going into the studio in November. We're recording a new album. It's gonna be a little bit of a return to my roots of my first record, my R&B record, so it's gonna be a 90s R&B record and its got nine original songs and one cover and it comes out in March.

---

Listen to James' debut album ahead of the upcoming concert here:

Photo credit is Shervin Lainez

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!