Morgan James

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Morgan James

Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, CA, July 23, 2015

Reviewed by Steve Murray for Cabaret Scenes

Supporting her new studio CD Hunter, singer/songwriter/actress Morgan James presents an open, raw and emotional side of herself that certainly highlights her songwriting, vocal and onstage performance skills. Her voice rivals peers like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera in its strength, and adds touches of the R&B and soul greats. Collaborating with arranger/producer/guitar wiz Doug Wamble, who either wrote or co-wrote the majority of the songs featured in her set, James’s material is deeply infused with her R&B and soul influences. The songs feature her strong, clear vocals which are sensuous and powerful in both the lower and upper ranges.

One can here traces of Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Marlena Shaw and the other great soul predecessors in her youthful contemporary sound. Like Nina Simone, whom James honors with a sweet tribute in “Nina” (James/JP Saxe), she crosses genres with ease and wants her audience to feel her music. “Hunter” and “The Sweetest Sound,” both written by Wamble, have an irresistible funky backbeat combined with Morgan’s impressive vocals. “You Never Lied” (James/Wamble), a strongly-written heartache ballad, featured sizzling slide guitar accompaniment that enhances the songs sentiments.

James loves to present unique covers and works magic on “Fantasy” (Mariah Carey/Dave Hall) and a deconstructed interpretation of The Police smash “Roxanne.” Wamble’s guitar shines again on an impressive James vocal on her idol Franklin’s “Baby, I Love You” (Ronnie Shannon). “Say the Words” (James/Wamble), from the new CD, is James at her most vulnerable, wringing out the heartache of a lost love and the need for closure. Quite an impressive new and very creative sound from this rising star.

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Steve Murray

Always interested in the arts, Steve was encouraged to begin producing and, in 1998, staged four, one-man vehicles starring San Francisco's most gifted performers. In 1999, he began the Viva Variety series, a live stage show with a threefold mission to highlight, support, and encourage gay and gay-friendly art in all the performance forms, to entertain and document the shows, and to contribute to the community by donating proceeds to local non-profits. The shows utilized the old variety show style popularized by his childhood idol Ed Sullivan. He’s produced over 150 successful shows, including parodies of Bette Davis’s gothic melodramedy Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte and Joan Crawford’s very awful Trog. He joined Cabaret Scenes 2007 and enjoys the writing and relationships he’s built with very talented performers.