Soulful singer Morgan James navigated her way through much soul-searching and discovery before she zeroed in on how to best use her gigantic voice. Juilliard School-trained and Broadway experienced, James just debuted her first album, “Morgan James Live”, in which she features her own renditions of titles by the High Priestess of Soul herself—Nina Simone.

With Broadway titles like “Godspell” and “Wonderland” in her repertoire, Morgan James set out to record her own interpretations of Simone’s songs. In Morgan James Live, the crooner delves into the dark, sorrowful side of Simone and demonstrates her range by singing sultry and joyful tunes.

“Part of the motivation for this album was that I knew it would just be completely luxurious to do an entire record of Nina’s songs,” says James. “But at the same time I knew it would get right to the heart of what I do as a singer, and also take the listeners on some sort of journey— which to me is one of the most important things an album can do.”