Twentysomething

Once you have seen Jamie Cullum sing and play, arguments about whether he belongs to jazz or rock become almost irrelevant. The British musician seems to make his small frame bounce with the music, and that energy reaches the listener directly.

He released Heard It All Before independently in 1999, aged twenty, and his second album, Pointless Nostalgic, brought wider attention. Its closing original, ‘I Want to Be a Popstar’, sounds like a glimpse of his own future. The ambition became reality with the Verve release of Twentysomething.

Jazz and rock are equally at home in his music. His headlong performances, whether at Montreux or rock festivals, explain his international appeal. ‘But for Now’, from this album, also appeared at the end of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, leaving a quiet and affecting aftertaste that reveals another side of his talent.