 Debut CD: Pointless Nostalgic (CCD 79782) |
Candid Recording(s):
Audio Samples:
HI-FI play | LO-FI play | ||
Play all  | Play all | ||
| 1. | I Want To Be A Popstar | Play music | Play music |
| 2. | Pointless Nostalgic | Play music | Play music |
| 3. | You're Nobody Til Somebody Loves You | Play music | Play music |
| 4. | High And Dry | Play music | Play music |
Official Website: www.jamiecullum.com
Biography:
Jamie Cullum’s voice evokes a classic scene: salt and pepper haired man in a tux, bowtie undone, cigarette clouding the air, serenading a lounge bar Cognisenti of the Martini sipping Rat Pack…the truth couldn’t be further removed, but it's all part of the legend building around this handsome 22 year old. Usually in tee shirt and jeans, Jamie saunters on the stage to an understated intro and explodes into the spotlight, playing the piano to an spellbound crowd of twentysomethings more at home in pop venues than jazz clubs. First its his youth that makes you do a double take, then his talent. How can someone so young be such a consumate entertainer?
Tunes as diverse as You’re Nobody Til Somebody Loves You and High & Dry vie for attention with selfpenned classics like Pointless Nostalgic or the outragiously funny Who Wants To Be A Popstar. He’s hip, and charming, and boy can he sing! His name is Jamie Cullum, a name which, in these days of diposable pop (and with it, careers), you are unlikely to forget. In one gaze he’s the freshest, most genuinely exciting new face in the jazz scene, selling out venues from here to St. Petersburg, ‘crossing over’ like no male jazz singer since Harry Connick Jnr. In another, Jamie is a rockstar playing to thousands in Hyde Park with much touted band Taxi, a major label deal on the table and support tours with Paul Weller and Toploader in the bag. In yet another he really could be a popstar, having been offered a six figure advance to front his own pop album!
Here we will dwell on that first scenario, a jazz star with boy band looks who sings songs that don’t require a degree in scatology to be enjoyed. Robbie swang when he sang, the Pop Idols crooned to number one, and rumours abound of an allstar rat pack being created by a certain pop svengali. Swing is in. But is jazz the new rock ‘n’ roll? One thing is certain, Jamie Cullum is the real deal. No need for pop producers and a million pound marketing spend here. Critics are already raving about him, and if everyone who claims to have been at his London debut at the famed 606 Club really were, it would have to have been the size of the Albert Hall - a venue at which another jazz pianist and singer, Diana Krall, has just sold out three nights. With the exuberance of Ben Folds, the confidence of Robbie Williams and the classic sound of Frank Sinatra, Jamie enters the arena of sophisticated jazz with a humility that belies his supreme talent. He plays a mean piano too.
Jamie’s debut album Pointless Nostalgic (Candid CCD79782) encapsulates this style precisely, with universal appeal. Its jazz man, but jazz to fall in love with, and quite probably to. The first single, I Want To Be A Popstar, is ironically an incredibly catchy snapshot of the musical zeitgeist and a huge favourite of anyone who has seen Jamie live. Bearded chin strokers will go gaga for his arrangements of You And The Night and It Ain’t Necessarily So. Tears will well in the eyes of old romantics when they hear In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning and a heartbreakingly beautiful version of Radiohead’s High and Dry. ‘90s kids will sing along to Too Close For Comfort and You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You as featured on the Swingers soundtrack. Radio 2 listeners will jam the BBC switchboard with demands to hear the title track, Pointless Nostalgic, a song whose piano riffs becomes addictive after more than one listen. In fact all Jamie Cullum’s songs or live shows have that compulsive quality. Once is never enough. You feel a need to hear or see him again and again, evangelising to friends about your latest hit. You probably forgot that music could make you feel this good.
Jamie is a self proclaimed ‘nostalgic’, knowing over 200 classic songs by heart, but there’s nothing ‘pointless’ about this collection of the best 13 tracks in his repertoire. ‘You can win the admiration, of the common population, you can be a star, as long as you’re looking good…Don’t have to know a thing, just look like you’re a sensation, don’t have to dance or sing to get that standing ovation, as long as you’re looking good’ sings Jamie Cullum on Looking Good. But looks are not something on which a performer of this calibre will ever have to rely.