RJO Blog

When Nina Simone passed away on April 21, 2003, her funeral service was attended by Miriam Makeba, Patti Labelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis, and hundreds of others. Elton John sent a floral tribute with the message, "You were the greatest and I love you."

And the legacy continues…

Yes, her legacy continues through the voice of Morgan James. Join the Reno Jazz Orchestra and Ms. James celebrating the music of Nina Simone on August 24 at UNR's Nightingale Hall and August 25 at the Sand Harbor Trepp Amphitheater. She has seen success on Broadway, jazz clubs, and a solo career embracing soul music in all its forms. In middle school her grandmother paid for her singing lessons which developed a dream of attending Julliard. 

"I knew music would be my path early on—probably 14 years old," said James. "I felt the feeling and heard the response the first time I had a solo in choir— and I felt the way music made people feel. I was hooked."

Though initially rejected she convinced Julliard to accept her where she studied opera and earned a Bachelor of Music in voice. As with most singers/musicians in New York City, James was a struggling artist until she made her Broadway debut 2010 in The Addams Family musical that featured Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. She was cast in several Broadway plays including the role of Teena Marie in Motown: The Musical. During this time, she began "moonlighting" as a solo artist in NYC clubs and in 2013 left the Motown cast to pursue a solo career. 

As a testament to her love of Simone's music, her first album Morgan James Live: A Celebration of Nina Simone was released in 2012. Morgan noted, "My first record was a complete accident. I had already planned on performing my show at Jazz at Lincoln Center (the music of Nina Simone) and when the head of Sony came to see the show, he fell in love. He decided in that instant to record the show and release it as my first album—and the rest is history. So, returning to the music of Nina Simone always feels like the right choice."

Leader of the Postmodern Jukebox, Scott Bradlee, was so impressed with her amazing voice, enthralling personality, and striking on-stage presence he invited her to tour with the band in 2014. She has recorded many solo artist albums, both of original music and celebrations of icons such as Joni Mitchel and the Beatles. 

In 2017 James returned to her Broadway roots originating the role of Jesus in an all-female studio cast of Jesus Christ Superstar—a project she produced and assembled herself. The recording features a jaw-dropping lineup of talent, including Cynthia Erivo and Shoshana Bean. "It's probably the project I'm most proud of. It almost killed me—it was so hard to get off the ground," Morgan reflects. "But being in the room with that many powerful women, including the all-female orchestra and creative team, was unforgettable. We bent over backward for each other. It was all love and respect."

James loves soul music and is quoted as saying, "My trinity of vocal inspiration is Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, and Mariah Carey," she says. "Aretha is my number one. When she covers a song, it becomes the definitive version. That's the power of interpretation."

"Ms. James ... is a phenomenal talent whose feel for classic soul music is bone deep." New York Times

Most of us are familiar with music icons Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin but Nina Simone's legacy is just as important. Her timeless music spanned over four decades from her first hit, the 1959 Top 10 classic "I Loves You Porgy," to "A Single Woman," the title cut from her one and only 1993 Elektra album. Thirty-three years separate those recordings. Her musical talent was apparent early when she started playing the piano by ear at the age of three.  She began studying classical music, learning to love great composers. Her dream was to become a classical pianist and her community raised enough money to send her to Julliard but she decided on the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She began teaching music to local students, but one day in 1954 she auditioned to play in an Atlantic City bar to supplement her income. The owner hired her on the spot but told her she also had to sing, something she had not done. Though her dream of being a classical pianist was not to come true, this was the start of a 40-year career touching millions. 

Simone earned the reputation as an engaging live performer and performed at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival. As with many great artists it was difficult for critics to categorize her. "Critics started to talk about what sort of music I was playing, and tried to find a neat slot to file it away in," Simone explained. "It was difficult for them because I was playing popular songs in a classical style with a classical piano technique influenced by cocktail jazz. On top of that I included spirituals and children's songs in my performances, and those sorts of songs were automatically identified with the folk movement. So, saying what sort of music I played gave the critics problems because there was something from everything in there."

She was an inspiration to the Civil Rights Movement though initially reluctant.  "Nightclubs were dirty, making records was dirty, popular music was dirty and to mix all that with politics seemed senseless and demeaning. And until songs like 'Mississippi Goddam' just burst out of me, I had musical problems as well. How can you take the memory of a man like [Civil Rights activist] Medgar Evers and reduce all that he was to three and a half minutes and a simple tune?" 

Throughout the 70s and 80s Simone continued to record and perform. She moved to southern France in 1993 and continued to tour. In her autobiography, Simone writes that her function as an artist is "…to make people feel on a deep level. It's difficult to describe because it's not something you can analyze; to get near what it's about you have to play it. And when you've caught it, when you've got the audience hooked, you always know because it's like electricity hanging in the air."
 

Experience that electricity in the air August 24 and 25 with Morgan James and the RJO.

For more information and purchase tickets visit: the Events Page.

Check out these Morgan James and Nina Simone related videos: