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Jamie Cullum Information
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'Jamie Cullum' (born August 20, 1979) is an English lounge jazz pianist and singer.
Biography
Born in Essex and raised in Hullavington, Wiltshire, Cullum released his first album, Jamie Cullum Trio-Heard it All Before, in 1999. A mere 600 copies were made. Original copies have sold for as much as £600 (and above) on eBay.
The success of Heard It All Before resulted in Jamie being invited to appear on Geoff Gascoyne's album Songs of the Summer. After graduating from the University of Reading in 2001, Cullum-who is completely self-taught, bar a few piano lessons as a youngster-released a best-selling album, Pointless Nostalgic, which stirred interest from Michael Parkinson. Following that, in April 2003 he signed a contract with Universal, for three albums, who beat Sony in a bidding war for the prodigy.
Cullum then started recording his second album, Twentysomething, which was released in October 2003. It went platinum and became the #1 selling studio album by a lounge jazz artist in the United Kingdom. Cullum's breakout hit in the United States was "All At Sea" closely followed by a reworking of Radiohead's "High and Dry".
Although primarily a lounge pop/jazz musician, Cullum performs in a wide range of styles and is generally regarded as a "crossover" artist with his musical roots firmly based in lounge jazz. Cullum draws his inspiration from many different musicians, from Miles Davis to Tom Waits.
Together with his elder brother, Ben Cullum, he wrote the music for a West End stage version of When Harry Met Sally.
The British Jazz Awards first recognized Cullum's growing success by awarding him the "Rising Star" award, at the 2003 ceremony in July.
At the 2004 Brit Awards, Cullum was nominated in the "British Breakthrough Act" category. He performed live in the ceremony at Earl's Court, a duet with Katie Melua of The Cure's "Love Cats". In the 2005 Brit Awards, Cullum was nominated for two awards: "Best Male Artist" and "Best Live Act".
Following that, Cullum was nominated for a prestigious Grammy award in 2005, and went on to win yet another award at the BBC Jazz Awards, this time scooping Radio 2 "Artist Of The Year", as voted for by listeners of Radio 2.
Cullum's third major label album, entitled Catching Tales, was released on the September 26, 2005, in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, and two weeks later in the United States, on October 11.
The American and French versions of Catching Tales do not feature Fascinating Rhythm; the European version does. The second single to be released, in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, will be Mind Trick, a funky track written by Jamie and his brother Ben.
A special edition version of Catching Tales is also available in Europe, featuring "an exclusive 20 minute behind-the-scenes documentary following Jamie throughout recording, mixing, the video shoot and on the road across Europe. It also includes a fabulous interview. 28-page booklet contains exclusive photos, Jamie rarities, extended liner notes plus a track-by-track introduction from Jamie himself!". Catching Tales has also been released on 7", with a limited edition run of red vinyl.
Catching Tales was to feature a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, but the track that they recorded together, "Wifey", ended up being taken off the album. Usher recorded a version of the song "Wifey"; it is featured on a Japanese import of his album. There is a possibility of "Wifey" being released on Pharrell's forthcoming solo album. The Catching Tales album has been produced by Stewart Levine, who also produced "Twentysomething".
Cullum will be doing an 18 month tour with the material from Catching Tales beginning at the end of October 2005 and continuing through to November 2006.
The Des and Mel Special
On the 6th of April 2005, Cullum performed a Christmas extravaganza for the UK chat show 'Today with Del and Mel', to a worldwide audience of millions. His performance to the golden duo is believed to have seen his international sales increase ten-fold, which has since been labelled the 'Des Effect'.
Discography
Albums
*Heard It All Before (1999)
*Pointless Nostalgic (2001)
*Twentysomething (2003) #3 UK, #83 US, #2 Australia
*Catching Tales (2005) #4 UK, #26 Australia, #30 Germany
DVDs
*Live at Blenheim Palace (2004)
Singles
'From Twentysomething:'
*"These Are the Days"/"Frontin'" (2004) #12 UK
*"Everlasting Love" (2004) #20 UK
'From Catching Tales:'
*"Get Your Way" (2005) #44 UK
*"Mind Trick" (2005) #32 UK
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