PORT TOWNSEND — Holding hands at midnight / ’Neath a starry sky / Nice work if you can get it /And you can get it if you try / Strolling with the one girl / Sighing sigh after sigh / Nice work if you can get it …
Val James has long wanted to get this job: an evening singing the songs of composer George Gershwin and his lyricist brother Ira. Together with friends, she’ll do it in a Candlelight Concert this Thursday night.
“Ira was a genius,” James said of the man who wrote “I Got Rhythm,” “The Man I Love,” “S’Wonderful,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and that “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”
James and her band will deliver those and many other Gershwin classics in a 50-minute set to start at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Trinity United Methodist Church will stream the show online at https://trinityumcpt.org, with admission by donation. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Bayside Housing & Services (baysidehousing.org), a nonprofit agency providing transitional housing and support in Jefferson County.
James, who has been singing in Seattle and around Port Townsend for some four decades, was a regular at The Upstage in downtown Port Townsend back when it was open, as well as at the Cellar Door; she also produced the Jazz Gals trio showcasing local female vocalists.
James and her husband Mike have released a couple of jazz CDs and two folk and singer-songwriter recordings, and are featured on four other nautical-themed CDs with other performers in Washington state.
In Thursday’s Candlelight Concert, “we’ll do some tricky ones,” James promised, “like ‘Fascinatin’ Rhythm,’ and one I think nobody knows: ‘You’ve Got What Gets Me,’” which the Gershwins wrote for the 1932 movie “Girl Crazy.”
Her full band includes pianist George Radebaugh, bass player Bruce Cannavaro, drummer Tim Sheffel, trumpet player Scott Sizer and guitarist Jack Lambton.
James’ inspiration as an interpreter of songs was her mother, Margaret Lenhart. She sang with Bing Crosby on the radio in the late 1930s, early ’40s, and then went on to be a “ghost singer” in movies such as 1942’s “Holiday Inn.” This meant she was an uncredited vocalist who dubbed her voice into the singing parts credited to the films’ stars.
James grew up in “beautiful downtown Burbank,” as she puts it, not far from Hollywood, Calif. She started out as a folk singer, then fell for jazz and the Gershwins. She’s enchanted by the half-steps — those ultrashort intervals between notes — and Ira’s wordplay. Altogether, these things wring out the music’s emotion, James believes, creating a singular musical experience.
“I was always enamored with the Gershwins and have wanted to do a whole show as a tribute,” she said.
“I just can’t get those beautiful songs out of my head.”
“Someone to Watch Over Me,” a 95-year-old work, is another example, James added. It’s a song about a flock of sheep, it’s a poetic love ballad, and it’s timeless, she said.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladaily news.com.
