Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum
JazzWorld Stage - Saturday
Having prepared himself by soaking up the atmosphere in the backstage bar (and several pints of Guinness), Jamie Cullum hits the stage on a mission to have as much fun as possible. After all the hype and success of his most recent album ‘Twentysomething’, (now a million-seller worldwide), Cullum proved emphatically that he is well beyond the jazz karaoke of lesser artists, giving an utterly peerless performance. It’s also hard to imagine the likes of Harry Connick Jnr playing classic standards like ‘Old Devil Moon’ with Cullum’s sheer exuberance and in a muddy field to boot. Opening the set with his much loved take on The Neptunes’ ‘Frontin’, and thumping the hell out of his brand new piano on the “kick” of ‘Sinatra’s ‘I Get A Kick Out Of You’ is just the warm up for more frantic antics later on. Cullum is widely hailed as a jazz artist, yet the jazz snobs find his brash take on the standard repertoire to be bit “jazz lite”, criticising his raw piano style as less accomplished as that of a pure jazz player. Yet on the evidence of his utterly compelling performance tonight, Cullum showed he is much more than a manufactured record executive’s dream or an easy listening act. Not only has he got a fast developing and distinctive voice, and vocal style, he stretches every fibre to wring the most from his songs.
Running the gamut of songs from ‘Twentysomething’, that include his self-penned originals ‘All At Sea’, ‘Twentysomething’ and ‘These Are The Days’, it’s hard not to make comparisons to another artist who found his true voice at Glastonbury, that of Robbie Williams. Cullum not only has the songs and a great band, but he is instantly likeable - overflowing with enthusiasm, he often looks like he’s enjoying the show as much as the crowd; possessing star quality, yet not acting like a ‘star’. While his originals are laden with crowd pleasing hooks his covers of Hendrix’s ‘Wind Cries Mary’, done with a swinging New Orleans groove, and Jeff Buckley’s ‘Lover You Should Have Come Over’, still possess a lush quality. However it’s Radiohead’s ‘High And Dry’ where Cullum gets the audience in the palm of his hand. Splitting the crowd into three and taking the opening ‘do, do, do’ melody, he proceeds to get a beautiful three-part harmony going, which after a couple of minutes begins to take on a trance-like quality. With the crowd providing backing vocals, Jamie superimposes his soulful version of ‘Singing In The Rain’ on top, another little touch of genius.
Leaping around the stage, slapping the piano like a bongo, climbing down to the front barrier to perch on top and hail the crowd, and spectacularly leaping skyward from his baby-grand piano on the final tune, Cullum’s sense of poise, timing and wit makes his tiny but mighty stature all the more impressive. Aptly closing the set with Cole Porter’s ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ Jamie Cullum, came, saw and conquered Glastonbury.
Mike Flynn
This is the Official website of the Glastonbury Festival
© 1994-2004, Glastonbury Festivals Ltd
Reviews
Articles
Related Areas
News Stories
- Composting first for Glastonbury Festival
- Lost Vagueness Summer Party 05/09/04
- New Films by Laptop Jam
- 360 Tours - Reliving Glastonbury
- Online Glastonbury Dance Tent T-Shirt Auction for WaterAid
General Links
